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Bitcoin – Bulls Manage to Hold on as Vol Creeps Back in

By:
Bob Mason
Published: Jan 23, 2019, 06:47 UTC

Bitcoin bounces back to ease near-term fears of a slide to sub-$3,000 levels, strong support evidenced by Tuesday's moves.

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Bitcoin rose by 1.67% on Tuesday, following a 0.19% fall on Monday, to end the day at $3,639.1.

Off the back of a particularly range bound start to the week, which continued through the early hours of Tuesday, Bitcoin tumbled to a late morning intraday low $3,462. The sell-off saw Bitcoin slide through the first major support level at $3,545.10 and second major support level at $3,501.8 before recovering.

It was Bitcoin’s first visit to sub-$3,500 levels since 17th December and signalled, not only a pickup in cryptomarket volatility, but also a strong level of support for Bitcoin and the broader market, in spite of the return to tight ranges at the start of the year.

The Tuesday morning sell-off saw the total crypto market cap fall to $117.69bn before recovering to $120bn levels, with EOS and Tron’s TRX leading the rebound on Tuesday. EOS bounced back to end the day with a 5.27% gain, with Tron’s TRX enjoying a 2nd solid day, up 4.04% off the back of a 7.9% rally on Monday.

There was little coming from the news wires to deliver the late morning blow to Bitcoin and the broader market, with talk of Bitcoin being oversold at $3,500 levels contributing to the late morning bounce back.

While Tron’s TRX continues to buck the trend across the broader market, trailblazing its way through January, currently up 86%, the broader market looks to have reverted back to trend, a lack of differentiation across the cryptos creeping back into the market.

This could well shift once the Ethereum upgrade takes place in February. When considering a particularly weak start to the year for Ripple’s XRP, down 10.33%, some of the cryptos are certainly due for a bounce back, particularly when considering the successes that certain platforms have had over the last 12-18 months.

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At the time of writing, Bitcoin was up 0.32% to $3,650.9, with moves through the early hours seeing Bitcoin fall from a morning high $3,661.1 to a morning low $3,631 .0 before recovering. Another range bound start to the day left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.

For the day ahead, a hold onto $3,600 levels would be needed to support a run at Tuesday’s high $3,682.1 to bring $3,700 levels and the first major resistance level at $3,726.8 into play before any pullback. Having failed to strike $3,700 levels for two consecutive days, support from the broader market would be needed for a break out from $3,600 levels later in the day.

Failure to hold onto $3,600 levels could see Bitcoin call on support at the first major support level at $3,506.7 before recovering, sub-$3,500 levels unlikely to be tested, barring a meltdown event later in the day.

For the crypto bulls, recovering to $3,600 levels on Tuesday was not just a positive for Bitcoin, but the broader market, with Bitcoin likely to take the rest of the majors with it if sub-$3,000 levels were hit.

Volatility appears to be back and we can expect some more choppiness today should the recent trend in volumes across the broader market continue.

BTC/USD 23/01/19 Daily Chart

About the Author

Bob Masonauthor

With over 20 years of experience in the finance industry, Bob has been managing regional teams across Europe and Asia and focusing on analytics across both corporate and financial institutions. Currently he is covering developments relating to the financial markets, including currencies, commodities, alternative asset classes, and global equities.

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