Bitcoin enthusiasts had eagerly waited for the “halving” that took place on Saturday and is designed to cut the rate at which new bitcoins are created

Bitcoin’s so-called halving event has had little impact on its price so far, with industry insiders on Monday saying the crypto currency’s fortunes were more closely tied to wider financial market sentiment and geopolitics.

Bitcoin enthusiasts had eagerly waited for the “halving” – a change to the crypto currency’s underlying technology that took place around 0014 GMT on Saturday and is designed to cut the rate at which new bitcoins are created.

The change takes place every four years and some crypto fans pointed to price gains following previous halvings as a sign that bitcoin would rally again.

By 1415 GMT on Monday, there was little apparent impact, with bitcoin trading at $66,300. It advanced 1.2% last week and was up 3.4% on Monday, but has mostly struggled for direction since reaching an all-time high of $73,794 last month.

The geopolitical events unfolding at the minute are having a bigger impact than any impact from the halving. So that’d be the perceived easing of tensions between Iran and Israel, said Mick Roche, senior trader at Standard Chartered’s crypto arm, Zodia Markets.

Eric Demuth, Chief Executive Officer of crypto currency broker Bitpanda, said bitcoin was increasingly dependent on broader market sentiment and there was no clear pattern of retail trading activity around the halving.

Crypto is so similar to stocks already. The same people that are trading stocks and tech stocks are also into crypto, he added.

Excitement around U.S. regulatory approval for spot bitcoin ETFs helped bitcoin recover from a string of crashes.

For bitcoin, the focus is now on “institutionalisation”, according to Ben Laidler, global markets strategist at eToro.

Bitcoin is dominated by retail investors, he said, but he expects regulatory changes in future could make it easier for firms, banks and central banks to own bitcoin.