Bitcoin (BTC) held near $19,000 at the Wall Street open on Jan. 13 as traders expected a week of quick gains to hold.
BTC price “breakout or fakeout remains to be seen”
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed that the BTC/USD pair crossed the $19,000 barrier at the start of the US trading session.
The pair quickly shed liquidity from sellers overnight, rallying to what Material Indicators is forecasting could be a retest of the $20,000 mark.
“Looks like BTC is getting ready to retest resistance at 2017 high”, wrote in part of a Twitter debate on January 12, the day before.
“It remains to be seen if we see a bona fide breakout or fakeout. Time for patience and discipline.”
An accompanying snapshot of the Binance order book confirmed that the bulls had broken through multiple sell walls.
“Things got interesting,” Material Indicators added in comments on the chart.
Characteristic of the current climate, others held firm to risk aversion on Bitcoin despite year-to-date gains approaching 20%.
Among them was the popular Crypto trader Il Capo, who in classic style described current price action as “one of the biggest bull traps I’ve ever seen.”
“The bullish euphoria is real and the price is still below $20,000,” he added.
Michaël van de Poppe, founder and CEO of trading firm Eight, also warned against overly optimistic reactions to BTC price performance.
“It’s funny though, if you look at social media, it’s bullish euphoria. If you look at the chart, you have to zoom out a lot to see the full chart.” said.
“Bitcoin is still -$50,000 from 15 months ago.”
Bitcoin wakes up from “volatility sleep”
Regardless of its resilience, Bitcoin’s recent rally is in stark contrast to the stark absence of volatility seen since the FTX implosion in early November.
For on-chain analytics firm Glassnode, such behavior was possibly due for a shakeout sooner rather than later, especially given its persistence until the close of the 2022 annual candle.
“The 2022-23 holiday period has been historically quiet, and it is rare for such conditions to persist for long,” he wrote in the latest edition of his weekly newsletter, “The Week On-Chain,” published Jan. 9. .
“Past occasions where the volatility of BTC and ETH was so low have preceded extremely volatile market environments, with past examples trading both higher and lower.”
Glassnode called the phenomenon “volatility lethargy” and added that “on-chain activity from the top two firms remains extremely weak, despite a short-term post-FTX rebound.”
“Using both the on-chain activity and the capital reductions made, it can be safely stated that the excesses from H2-2021 have been largely driven out of the system,” concluded.
“This process has been painful for investors, yet it has brought market valuations closer to their underlying fundamentals.”
The views, thoughts and opinions expressed herein are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.
Investments in crypto assets are not regulated. They may not be suitable for retail investors and the entire amount invested may be lost. The services or products offered are not directed or accessible to investors in Spain.