Bitcoin Holds Near $24k As Crypto Market Consolidates
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(Kitco News) – It was a sideways day of price action in the cryptocurrency market as Bitcoin (BTC) continues to trade near support at $24,000 as global regulators issued what appeared to be coordinated warnings about the dangers cryptoassets pose to the global financial system.
Stocks rallied after a series of losses after the latest gross domestic product (GDP) data showed the US economy grew 2.7%, which was slightly lower than the initial estimate of 2.9%. At the closing bell, the S&P, Dow and Nasdaq all finished in the green, up 0.53%, 0.33% and 0.72% respectively.
Data provided by TradingView shows that a Bitcoin rally that began late on Wednesday peaked at $24,600 in early hours on Thursday as bears took over and pushed the price down to a daily low of $23,630 before bulls managed to bid it back in near the major support level found at $24,000.
BTC/USD 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView
The early decline had little effect on March Bitcoin futures prices, according to Kitco senior technical analyst Jim Wyckoff, who noted that “futures prices are near steady in early US trading on Thursday.”
“This week’s sideways price action, or break, is normal and not bearish,” Wyckoff said, adding that “bulls still have the overall technical advantage in the near term as an uptrend in price is in place on the daily chart.”
Further insight into the sideways price action for Bitcoin was provided by market analyst Rekt Capital, who posted the following chart and noted that BTC is currently trading between the 21-day exponential moving average (EMA) and the 50-day EMA.
#BTC is currently sandwiched between two Bull Market EMAs
• 21-week EMA (green)
• 50-week EMA (blue)
It is probable $BTC will continue to consolidate between these two Bull Market EMAs for the time being
Breach of the blue EMA resistance -> bullish#Crypto #Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/VEsFGvteT1
— Rekt Capital (@rektcapital) 23 February 2023
For now, it looks like BTC will continue to trade sideways as the crypto market consolidates. As for today’s GDP print, Eight Global founder Michaël van de Poppe sees it as a positive sign signaling that a recession has been avoided for now and the next stop for Bitcoin is $30,000.
GDP came in lower than expected, but still massively positive at 2.7%.
The recession has been avoided, for now.
It is a good sign for continuation of the markets.
Bring #Bitcoin to $30K.
— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) 23 February 2023
Altcoins show resilience
A small majority of the altcoin market traded in the green on Thursday as recent runners entered the consolidation while others took the opportunity to stage double-digit rallies.
Daily performance in the cryptocurrency market. Source: Coin360
BinaryX (BNX) was the biggest gainer of the day, rising 41.69% to trade at $137.68, followed by a 24.45% gain for Audius (AUDIO), which surged after announcing integration with TikTok, and a 19.1% increase for Stacks (STX) ).
The total cryptocurrency market cap is now at $1.097 trillion, and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 42.3%.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect the views of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is for informational purposes only. It is not an invitation to exchange goods, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept responsibility for any loss and/or damage arising from the use of this publication.
