Bitcoin trades flat at $22,500 as Silvergate concerns weigh on crypto market

Editor’s Note: With so much market volatility, stay tuned for daily news! Get caught up in minutes with our quick summary of today’s must-read news and expert opinions. Sign up here!

(Kitco News) – Little has changed for the cryptocurrency market since the pullback experienced on Friday, as Bitcoin’s (BTC) price has essentially flatlined near support at $22,500 as cryptocurrency traders wait for a spark to revive the market amid concerns about the health of Silvergate Bank.

The traditional market got off to a hot start in early trading on Monday, but momentum began to wane as the day wore on, with the major indices heading lower as markets wound down. When the dust settled, the S&P and Dow managed to finish in the green, up 0.07% and 0.12% respectively, while the Nasdaq posted a loss of 0.11%.

Data from TradingView shows that the Bitcoin price traded in a range between $22,400 and $22,700 during the day, with neither the bulls nor the bears gaining the upper hand, resulting in a sort of stalemate with both sides waiting for a catalyst that could cause a significant price movement in the top crypto.

BTC/USD 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView

According to Kitco senior technical analyst Jim Wyckoff, March Bitcoin futures traded firmer during early US trading hours on Monday and “Bulls have lost their overall near-term technical advantage as a price uptrend on the daily chart has been negated.”

“Prices are now in a new downtrend and the bears have some momentum,” Wyckoff said.

Stop-loss below $21,370

Additional Bitcoin analysis was provided in the latest trading letter from Eight Global, which noted that “BTC price has lost the bottom support of our tentative channel and has since struggled to push back in.”

BTC/USD 1-Day Chart. Source: Eight Global

“The 8EMA is cutting through the 34EMA from above and they are currently both in sync with the channel bottom, which could add resistance here,” Eight Global wrote. “Until we get a clear break back into the channel, $22,600 – $23,000 is an area to watch for shorts, targeting $21,500 – $21,800, and moving SLs [stop losses] to be [break even] when price began to move in favor of the position.”

Currently, Bitcoin is making a higher low and higher high structure, and as long as it can hold above the previous low of $21,370, the bullish chart pattern will continue, the analysts wrote.

“Until proven otherwise, HTF [high time frame] longs can be kept open with initial target around $26,500 and if the pattern continues, eventually $28,000 – $30,000.”

BTC/USD 1-Day Chart. Source: Eight Global

Should the $21,370 low be breached, “we could be looking at the A wave of an ABC correction,” Eight Global warned. “The $20,800 area would then be a likely support for wave A and if the subsequent bounce or MTF [mid time frame] uptrend (B wave) then peaks at around $23,300 – $24,300 (or lower), the likelihood of a deeper correction (C wave) into the $18,300 – $19,700 region increases.”

BTC/USD 1-Day Chart. Source: Eight Global

For this reason, Eight Global recommends placing stop-loss orders for long positions below $21,370 as a precautionary measure and moving them up toward $23,000 in case Bitcoin’s price climbs higher.

“Whether you prefer longs or short positions here, putting your SL to b/e when price reasonably moves in your favor is the best way to protect your capital in a week where we are likely to see the prices chop quite a bit. “, Eight Global concluded.

Altcoins are stagnating

Overall, it was a negative day for the altcoin market as the majority of tokens traded in the red while only a handful of projects recorded small gains.

Daily performance in the cryptocurrency market. Source: Coin360

Onyxcoin (XCN) led the winners with a 9.81% increase, followed by a 7.92% gain for Bitgert (BRISE) and a 7.18% increase for Everscale (EVER).

The total cryptocurrency market cap is now at $1.023 trillion, and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 42.3%.