Bitcoin (BTC) is leaving traders guessing as the future of the bull market hinges on the last week of February.
In multiple tweets on Feb. 17, popular trader and analyst Rekt Capital pointed out crucial ongoing resistance battles in BTC/USD across multiple time frames.
Bitcoin price squares with bear market downtrend
Bitcoin hit fresh six-month highs this week as the last entries of its 2023 rally kept the bullish-bearish debate going.
After a start to the month of consolidation, February has turned out to be something of a set point for Bitcoin price strength. Gains have been much harder to cement than they were in January, when BTC/USD ended up climbing nearly 40%.
For Rekt Capital, now is the time to pay attention – no matter if you are trading on daily, weekly or even monthly terms.
The weekly chart represents perhaps the biggest struggle after the 2022 bear market. Bitcoin is currently trying to overcome a resistance zone that it failed to break last August, so far without success.
“Ultimately, a weekly close above this key area is what BTC needs to achieve to break this confluent area of resistance to continue moving higher,” wrote Rekt Capital in part of its latest weekly chart update.
The picture is complicated by two other major resistance trend lines above, these come in the form of the 50-week and 200-week moving averages.
As Cointelegraph reported, these have also just formed their first “death cross” – a potential nail in the coffin for those hoping that a new bull market is beginning.
On the monthly time frames, an equally tense situation is unfolding. Here, too, BTC/USD is “very close to breaking the macro downtrend,” says Rekt Capital.
The upcoming monthly close will be the deciding factor as continued strength could see Bitcoin start March out of a descending trend line in place from the November 2021 all-time highs.
While this would be a significant event, certain signs already suggest that could come true. Bitcoin’s RSI, previously at all-time lows, “has already confirmed a new uptrend.”
BTC Price Analysis: Whales Target ‘Bull Market Highs’
Closer to home, intraday activity remains tantalizingly opaque as Bitcoin bulls hold on to a piece of the week’s upswing.
Two trips above $25,000, however, have not led to a resistance-support reversal, and at the time of writing, BTC/USD was trading around $24,500, Cointelegraph data showed. Markets Pro and TradingView.
While Rekt Capital celebrates a confirmed breakout, others continue to fear that the entire episode was the result of market whale manipulation.
Analyzing order book activity on Binance, tracking material resource indicators seemed to have no doubts about the spurious nature of the current price “strength”.
Whales have been moving supply support higher, creating the illusion of a “bull market breakout.”
“We already have 2 rejections, so if they get it, it’s a bonus”, wrote Material Indicators on the twin moves above $25,000.
“In my opinion, the goal was to raise the range of distribution and drop the demand liquidity at the highs of the bull market.”
An accompanying order book chart captured the action, along with whale volumes declining as the spot price rose, a phenomenon Material Indicators recently dubbed “whalish divergence.”
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