forbes.com
Bitcoin prices approached $45,000 earlier today, failing to break through that level but trading repeatedly near that price point.
The digital currency, currently the largest in the world in terms of market capitalization, reached $44,678.03 around 9 p.m. EST, CoinMarketCap data shows.
After that, it fell back very slightly, but didn’t even decline enough to reach $44,500, additional CoinMarketCap figures reveal.
Since then, it has been trading within a very tight range between $44,500 and $44,700.
Following these latest price movements, several technical analysts weighed in on the situation, highlighting key levels of support and resistance that traders should watch for next.
“With support firmly above $40k and the halving predicted for mid-April, it seems plausible to assume a 5-handle by the halving date, and conceivably a 6-handle,” said Tim Enneking, managing director of Digital Capital Management, referring to $50,000 and $60,000 price levels.
“An ATH (at just below $70k) is a tougher hill to climb near-term, but easily foreseeable by the end of the year,” he stated.
“In any event, every $10,000 increment going forward will be a major battle (just as $20k and $30k were), at least until the new ATH – at which point we may see a serious run at six digits, which figures to be the mother of all resistance levels,” Enneking concluded.
Grant Tungate, Senior Analyst of Systematic Trading for Blockforce Capital, also provided his point of view, offering a different take on the situation.
“Key levels of support and resistance are the Jan. 8th high of ~$49k (resistance zone), and the Jan. 24th low of ~$38.5k (support zone),” he stated.
“Zooming out, the 200d moving average ~$31k is a major logical support level, and all time highs of ~$69k is a key resistance zone everyone will be watching,” said Tungate, focusing on the big picture.
William Noble, who currently serves as Director of Research and Content Development for Emerging Assets Group, took a rather different approach to the previous two market observers when providing technical analysis.
“Bitcoin is breaking out of a tight consolidation formation. That formation took the form of a diamond,” he stated.
The chart below displays the diamond formation to which he referred:
“Breakouts above the top of a diamonds can be powerful,” he noted, adding that “48k is resistance and that level will more than likely get tested.”
“Whether it can break through 48k is an open question,” Noble added.
“Support is at 42k. That level has been tested again and again and continues to hold,” he concluded.
Disclosure: I own some bitcoin, bitcoin cash, litecoin, ether, EOS and SOL.