Bitcoin (BTC) Decouples from the NASDAQ 100

It was another bullish day for Bitcoin (BTC) and the broader crypto market on Monday. The upside came in spite of the NASDAQ 100 ending the day in the red. For the crypto market, a shift in sentiment stemmed from key technical indicators suggesting the beginnings of a bullish trend formation.

Following a 2.40% gain on Sunday, Bitcoin rallied by 3.42% to end the day at $43,861. Resistance at $44,500 prevented Bitcoin from visiting $45,000 levels for the first time since 5^th January.

Looking at the major resistance levels on the day, Bitcoin broke through the first major resistance level at $43,000 and through the second major resistance level at $43,600 to wrap up the day at $43,800 levels.

Look at the 4-hourly chart, we had seen a bullish cross on Sunday, with the 50-day EMA crossing through the 100-day. On Monday, the 50-day EMA continued to narrow on the 200-day EMA, supporting the run at $45,000 levels.

Elsewhere, Shiba Inu Coin (SHIB) jumped by 14.35%, with Dogecoin (DOGE) and Terra (LUNA) rallying by 7.30% and by 7.62% respectively. The upside was not enough to move Dogecoin back into the top 10 on CoinMarketCap. Ripple’s XRP led the way, however, surging by 21.7%.

Market sentiment towards the SEC v Ripple Lab case supported the breakout day for XRP, which fed through to the broader crypto market.

Bitcoin Fear & Greed Index Continues Upswing

Monday’s bullish session delivered another boost for the Bitcoin Fear & Greed Index that continues its upward trend.

Having moved out of the red zone on Friday, the Index rose to 48/100 this morning. The move through to 48/100 saw the index move out of the fear zone and into the neutral zone. For the Bitcoin bulls, the index stood at its highest level since a 22^nd November 50/100. At that time, Bitcoin had been at $56,000 levels.

We continue to see an uptrend towards 50/100 as supportive of a Bitcoin move back through to $50,000 levels.

Bitcoin Price Action

At the time of writing, Bitcoin was up by 0.03% to $43,874. Avoiding the day’s $43,356 pivot would support a run at the first major resistance level at $45,000. Bitcoin would need plenty of support to breakout from $44,500 levels, however. In the event of an extended rally, Bitcoin could test resistance at $47,000 before any pullback. The second major resistance level sits at $46,184.

A fall through the pivot, however, would bring the first major support level at $42,195 into play. Barring an extended sell-off, Bitcoin should steer well clear of the second major support level at $40,528 and sub-$40,000 levels.

Looking at the EMAs and 4-hourly candlesticks, the signal continues to become more bullish. The 50-day EMA has pulled away from 100-day EMA after Sunday’s bullish cross. The 50-day and 100-day EMAs have also narrowed on the 200-day EMA. A bullish cross of the 50-day through the 200-day EMA would bring $50,000 levels into play.