Bitcoin (BTC) begins a brand new week in dangerous territory as sell-offs from whales mark a change in temper.
The most recent weekly shut has executed little to consolation nervous merchants as a pause in “up solely” BTC worth exercise continues.
With simply two weeks to go till the yearly candle concludes, the countdown is on — along with the strain — throughout threat property.
Macro knowledge releases — key short-term volatility catalysts — are set to maintain coming for the rest of December, with United States GDP due as markets digest final week’s strikes by the Federal Reserve.
It appears as if a “Santa rally” is much less and fewer on the playing cards for Bitcoin at current, and as excessive charges depart a bitter style in hodlers’ mouths, commentators are suggesting refocusing on subsequent month’s potential spot ETF approval.
A possible silver lining comes from market sentiment, each inside crypto and past. Whereas “greed” characterizes the panorama, unsustainable situations are nowhere to be seen, doubtlessly leaving room for additional upside as “disbelief” performs out.
Cointelegraph takes a have a look at these components in larger element as crunch time for yearly BTC worth efficiency nears.
Analysts line up key BTC worth help ranges
At round $41,300, the Dec. 17 weekly shut got here halfway by way of a neighborhood sell-off for BTC/USD.
Draw back continued in a single day, with Bitcoin hitting $40,800 earlier than reversing through the Asia buying and selling session to return to simply above $41,000, knowledge from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView reveals.
Merchants and analysts, already cautious of potential additional dips based mostly on current BTC worth motion, thus remained cautious.
“The Charts Don’t Lie,” buying and selling useful resource Materials Indicators summarized initially of 1 post on X (previously Twitter) on the day.
Materials Indicators famous that Bitcoin had misplaced its 21-day shifting common into the brand new week — an occasion it says is “inherently bearish.”
It added that it was “anticipating yr finish revenue taking and tax loss harvesting to prevail within the close to time period.”
Persevering with, co-founder Keith Alan flagged an ongoing battle for a key Fibonacci retracement stage which corresponds to the November 2021 all-time excessive.
It is too early to say if this December seventeenth Sample goes to play out. We are able to make that dedication on the shut. For now, but it surely’s secure to say that #BTC bulls must push worth again above .5 Fib to reclaim the Golden Pocket or threat shedding the 21-Day Shifting Common.… pic.twitter.com/Tjc4lkKEc2
— Keith Alan (@KAProductions) December 17, 2023
Common dealer Skew added some strains within the sand within the type of the 200-period and 300-period exponential shifting common (EMA) on 4-hour timeframes, together with the 50-day EMA — all at the moment round $2,500 beneath spot worth.
“From right here there’s two technical ranges on 1W/1M,” he continued in commentary on weekly and month-to-month timeframes.
“$39K – $38K ~ Potential help on HTF, an unsustainable push decrease there can be an honest bid. $47K – $48K ~ HTF resistance, unsustainable drive greater greater can be a very good space to take income.”
PCE, GDP due amid growing perception in Fed “pivot”
The approaching week sees the November print of the Private Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Index — the Fed’s “most well-liked” inflation gauge — lead U.S. macro occasions.
Coming after final week’s a number of key Fed selections, knowledge should now proceed to point out inflation abating heading into the brand new yr.
The following Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) assembly to determine modifications to rates of interest just isn’t till the top of January, however since final week, markets are entertaining the prospect of a “pivot” changing into actuality.
The market is now pricing a full 25bps fee lower by July 2024 – following in the present day’s Fed assembly. pic.twitter.com/zWXiUqx96Q
— tedtalksmacro (@tedtalksmacro) December 14, 2023
The most recent knowledge from CME Group’s FedWatch Tool at the moment places the chances of a fee lower subsequent assembly at round 10%, with the vast majority of key macro figures nonetheless to return.
“Even with shares up, uncertainty remains to be all over the place,” buying and selling useful resource The Kobeissi Letter concluded in an X submit outlining the approaching week’s prints.
Key Occasions This Week:
1. November Constructing Permits knowledge – Tuesday
2. Shopper Confidence knowledge – Wednesday
3. Present Dwelling Gross sales knowledge – Wednesday
4. Q3 2023 GDP knowledge – Thursday
5. November PCE Inflation knowledge – Friday
6. New Dwelling Gross sales knowledge – Friday
One other busy week with…
— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) December 17, 2023
Along with PCE, jobless claims and revised Q3 GDP will each hit on Dec. 21.
As Cointelegraph reported, U.S. greenback energy hit multi-month lows round FOMC in a possible recent tailwind for crypto markets. These lows have now pale because the U.S. greenback index (DXY) makes a modest comeback, nonetheless down round 1.9% in December.
Charges keep elevated
The heated debate over Bitcoin transaction charges has swelled in current days thanks to those hitting their highest ranges since April 2021.
With Ordinals again on the radar, these wishing to transact on-chain confronted $40 charges on the weekend, whereas “OG” commentators argued that the charge market was merely functioning as meant given competitors for block house.
Miners, in the meantime, have seen revenues skyrocket in consequence — to ranges not witnessed since Bitcoin’s $69,000 all-time excessive.
Into the brand new week, nonetheless, charges have already fallen significantly, with next-block transactions confirming for underneath $15 on the time of writing.
Commenting on the scenario, fashionable social media character Fred Krueger argued that market members ought to now flip their consideration to the choice on the primary U.S. spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) due early next month.
Noting that charges have been “already falling quick,” he defended Ordinals’ creators’ proper to make use of the blockchain to retailer their work.
“This debate seems to be like a nothingburger for now. Again to ready for the ETF,” he concluded.
Others, together with researcher and software program developer Vijay Boyapati, additionally referenced the transitory nature of the charges debate because it has occurred all through Bitcoin’s historical past.
#Bitcoin concern trolls circa 2017: “Bitcoin’s community is not going to be safe as a result of the block subsidy is shrinking and transaction charges will not be sufficient!!!”
Bitcoin concern trolls in the present day: “transaction charges are too excessive!!!”
— Vijay Boyapati (@real_vijay) December 17, 2023
Calling for so-called “Degree 2” options to hurry up growth in consequence, reactions to the current elevated charges underscored that off-chain options for normal customers — particularly the Lightning Community — exist already.
“L1 charges are extremely excessive proper now. Appears apparent — even when self-serving — that defaulting most transactions to the Lightning Community is the way in which to go for all exchanges and wallets,” David Marcus, the previous Fb govt now CEO of co-founder of Lightning startup Lightspark, wrote in a part of an X submit on the weekend.
Per knowledge from monitoring useful resource Mempool.space, in the meantime, block house stays in enormous demand, with the backlog of unconfirmed transactions nonetheless circling 300,000.
New addresses pose bull market momentum threat
Bitcoin community development has taken a breather this month — in-line with the bull market comeback.
New knowledge from on-chain analytics agency Glassnode confirms that the variety of new BTC addresses has continued its downtrend all through December.
For Dec. 17, the most recent date for which knowledge is accessible, round 373,000 addresses appeared in an on-chain transaction for the primary time. That is roughly half of the current native day by day excessive, which Glassnode reveals got here in early November.
Commenting on the numbers, fashionable social media analyst Ali described the tailing-off of latest addresses as “noticeable” and a hurdle to BTC worth enlargement.
“There’s been a noticeable dip in Bitcoin community development over the previous month, casting doubt on the sustainability of $BTC’s current transfer to $44,000,” he wrote.
“For a sturdy continuation of the bull rally, it is essential to see an uptick within the variety of new $BTC addresses. This would supply the wanted help for sustained bullish momentum.”
Disbelief behind the concern
The current cooling in Bitcoin’s newest “up solely” part has delivered a corresponding pause in market greed.
Associated: ‘No excuse’ not to long crypto: Arthur Hayes repeats $1M BTC price bet
In line with the most recent knowledge from the Crypto Fear & Greed Index, the vast majority of crypto market members have been given pause for thought over the previous week.
At the moment at 65/100, Concern & Greed, which is the go-to sentiment gauge in crypto, nonetheless defines the general temper as “grasping,” however close to its least heated in nearly a month.
Zooming out, Index scores over 90/100 have corresponded to long-term market tops, as irrational exuberance turns into the typical market participant’s mindset. A notable exception, as Cointelegraph reported, was the 2021 $69,000 all-time excessive, which noticed Concern & Greed attain 75/100 earlier than reversing.
Commenting on the present establishment for the normal market Index, in the meantime, Caleb Franzen, senior analyst at Cubic Analytics, urged that sentiment was nonetheless rising from the prolonged Fed tightening cycle that additionally started in late 2021.
“The Concern & Greed Index is comfortably within the ‘Greed’ vary. Nevertheless, it was simply in ‘Concern’ 4 weeks in the past and was in ‘Impartial’ to ‘Excessive Concern’ for two.5 months in September by way of November,” he told X subscribers on Dec. 14.
“Euphoria? No. That is disbelief.”
This text doesn’t comprise funding recommendation or suggestions. Each funding and buying and selling transfer entails threat, and readers ought to conduct their very own analysis when making a choice.
