Bitcoin Price Topside Bias Vulnerable If It Continues To Struggle Below $24K

Bitcoin is facing key resistance near the $23,500 zone against the US dollar. BTC needs to clear $23,500 to avoid another bearish reaction in the near term.

• Bitcoin is struggling to rise and is trading below the $23,500 level.
• The price is now trading below the $23,200 level and the 100 hourly simple moving average.
• An important ascending channel is forming with support near $22,800 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair (data feed from Kraken).
• The pair needs to clear the $23,500 resistance to start a decent short-term rally.

Bitcoin price upside limited

Bitcoin price gained momentum after it breached the $23,500 support zone. The price even traded below the $23,000 level to move into a short-term bearish zone.

However, the bulls protected the $22,650 zone. The 50% Fib retracement level of the upward move from the $20,692 swing low to the $24,671 high served as a support. The price formed a base and has recently recovered losses above the $23,000 level.

Bitcoin climbed above the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the downward move from the $24,699 high to the $22,649 low. The price even rose above the $23,400 level, but it faced strong resistance near $23,500.

It is now trading below the $23,200 level and the 100 hourly simple moving average. There is also an important ascending channel forming with support near $22,800 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair. On the upside, bitcoin price is facing resistance near the $23,200 level and the 100 hour SMA.

Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com

The next key resistance is near the $23,500 zone. A close above the $23,500 resistance zone could set the pace for a decent rally. In the aforementioned case, the price might rise towards the $24,215 level. The next major resistance is near the $24,700 level.

More losses in BTC?

If bitcoin fails to clear the $23,500 resistance zone and the channel resistance, it may continue to move down. An immediate support on the downside is near the $22,800 level.

The next major support is now near the $22,640 level. A close below the $22,640 level could trigger a sharp decline to $21,750. Any further losses could send the price towards the $21,000 level.

Technical indicators:

Hourly MACD – MACD is now picking up speed in the bearish zone.

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – RSI for BTC/USD is now near the 50 level.

Major support levels – $22,800, followed by $22,500.

Major resistance levels – $23,200, $23,500 and $24,180.