BTC price performance weakens after another crack at resistance near $20,000, but trades show a growing tug-of-war between bulls and bears.
Bitcoin
BTC
to mark
$19,820
it failed to break $20,000 despite a new weekly high on October 18 as market watchers waited for action.
BTC/USD 1-hour candlestick (bit stamp). Source: TradingView
Bitcoin meanders as stocks rise
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView show that BTC/USD defied volatility once again during the day.
The pair was remarkably stable despite stronger moves in US stocks at the open on Wall Street. At the time of writing, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite Index were up 1.5% and 1.2%, respectively.
“We are witnessing another long-term relief rally in stocks,” financial commentary resource Kobeissi Letter told Twitter followers.
“After more than a month of almost straight-line downward price action, a bounce was needed.”
The post continued with a warning about the upcoming Federal Reserve meeting, where a new interest rate hike will be announced.
However, as third quarter earnings begin and the next Fed meeting approaches, we are far from clear. Use stops and don’t stall,” he advised.
With the mood still uncertain, crypto commentators mostly stuck to existing predictions when it came to short-term price movements.
“The area around $19.3K is key to hold and then we can expand to $22.2K,” Michael van de Poppe, founder and CEO of Handelsplattform Aacht, wrote in part of a tweet the day.
Popular crypto trader Il Capo said that Bitcoin is “ready to pump above 20k”, after already giving a target of $21,000 for the relief rally.
Fellow crypto trader Tony was more conservative on BTC/USD’s potential range in the week ahead, marking the area around $20,000 as a possible place to make a longer-term trajectory decision.
BTC/USD annotated chart. Source: Crypto Tony / Twitter
Exchange activity recalls the end of 2020
Meanwhile, the analysis of the exchange order books produced interesting conclusions about the nature of the current price setting.
Related: Bitcoin Price ‘Easy’ To Hit $2M in Six Years – Larry Lepard
On Binance, the largest volume exchange, a significant resistance wall was active at $20,000, something that on-chain analytical resource material indicators compared to November 2020.
At that point, Bitcoin abruptly broke through the $20,000 barrier to start the month-long climb to new all-time highs at $60,000.
“The last time BTC had such a large selling wall directly above the active trading range was in November 2020,” commented Material Indicators.
“It was literally the same amount at the same price level. More than $100 million in demand liquidity was consumed to start the bullrun. Don’t think a breakout from here will do the same, but…”
BTC/USD Perpetual Futures (FTX) Order Book Chart. Source: Il Capo de Crypto / Twitter
BTC/USD order book chart (Binance). Source: Material Indicators / Twitter
Il Capo de Crypto also highlighted the activity on the derivatives platform FTX. Dealers there have been very supportive, he noted, arguing that this “raises the price.”
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