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Bitcoin Struggles at $8,000, with Optimism Holding Back Bigger Losses

By:
Bob Mason
Published: Apr 17, 2018, 06:36 UTC

Bitcoin struggling early, but the losses are not enough to raise alarm bells, the Bitcoin Bulls buying their time to gauge whether the U.S tax deadline will spur a rally later today.

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Bitcoin slipped 3.43% on Monday, reversing most of Sunday’s 4.41% gain, to end the day at $8,071.

An early move head to an intraday high $8,415.5 was the only positive for investors through the day, with Bitcoin sliding in the morning through the day’s first major support level of $8,085.47 and 23.6% FIB Retracement Level of $7,996.57 to an intraday low $7,900.3.

The good news for the Bitcoin bulls was that there was enough buying appetite at the 23.6% FIB Retracement Level to avoid major support levels being tested through the day, with Bitcoin managing to bounce back to $8,000 levels by the close.

Negative sentiment was market wide, while Bitcoin’s late in the day recovery was modest relative to its peers, Bitcoin unable to break clear of the 23.6% FIB Retracement Level through the second half of the day.

Some of the hold back may have been in anticipation of a Bitcoin rally, with some market participants expecting the 17th April U.S tax deadline to ease selling pressures attributed to tax obligations. The debate has continued and will likely continue through the day, investors monitoring Bitcoin’s moves closely.

While there is some degree of sense in the fact that last year’s exponential gains would have left U.S Bitcoin households with sizeable tax bills, once the money has gone towards taxes, it’s going to be fresh investors that will need to beef up the shortfall for a rally to ensue and, with so much uncertainty and volatility, it may be too big an ask until regulatory risk has abated from current levels.

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BTC/USD 17/04/18 Hourly Chart

At the time of writing, Bitcoin was down 0.97% to $7,978, with weak sentiment across the market seeing the majors go into reverse following an early morning move.

A start of the day $8,073 high fell well short of the first major resistance level of $8,357.57, with Bitcoin pulling back through the 23.6% FIB Retracement Level of $7,996.57 before buying appetite kicked in to avoid a test of the day’s first major support level of $7,842.37 early on.

$8,000 remains the key level for Bitcoin and moving back through to $8,000 levels will be key for the rest of the day, the Bitcoin Bulls hanging on to gauge whether the end day of the U.S Tax Year deadline will bring any joy.

Failure to break out from the 23.6% FIB Retracement Level of $7,996.57 will likely test investor resolve in the latter part of the day, which could see Bitcoin pullback through to test the first major support level of $7,842.37 and bring the 38.2% FIB Retracement Level of $7,710.6 into play.

For now, while Bitcoin and the broader market are sitting in the red, hopes are of an afternoon rebound, with the near-term bullish trend formed back at 6th April’s swing lo $6,500.2 intact in spite of Monday’s losses.

It looks like the bulls could turn it around, with any break through the day’s first major resistance level of $8,357.57 likely to see talk of $9,000 support any highs towards the end of the day.

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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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