Bitcoin Rises But Analyst Sees Drag To $21.5K On Bond Market Selloff – Benzinga

Major coins traded in the green on Sunday evening, as traders looked ahead to U.S. consumer confidence index data due later in the fresh trading week.

What Happened: Apex cryptocurrency Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) was trading above $23,000. Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) was trading at less than $1,700. Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) was trading at $0.081, up 1.26% in the last 24 hours. 

At the time of writing, the global cryptocurrency market capitalization stood at $1.07 trillion, up 1.68% in the last 24 hours.

U.S. equities ended the week on a sour note as the latest inflation report showed a higher-than-expected increase for last month. This sparked worries among investors that the Federal Reserve may be forced to raise interest rates more aggressively. As a result, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite closed down 1.05% and 1.69%, respectively, on Friday.

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The International Monetary Fund took a strong stance on adopting cryptocurrencies, issuing recommendations for member countries and calling for a “coordinated response”. It warned that the increasing popularity of cryptocurrencies poses a threat to the effectiveness of global monetary policy and urged countries to take action to regulate them. 

Former FTX Chief Sam Bankman-Fried asked a court for additional time until March 3 to find a technology expert to educate the court on VPN usage and to file a proposal for new bail conditions. 

Analyst Notes: “Risk aversion is running wild on Wall Street … The bond market selloff is getting ugly and that could support downward pressure for Bitcoin to the lower boundaries of its $21,500 to $25,000 trading range,” said Edward Moya, a senior analyst at OANDA, in a note seen by Benzinga.

Crypto analyst Michaël van de Poppe said the total crypto market capitalization still offers a clear picture of potential near-term activity. He noted that we’ve seen a retest of all-time highs in 2017 as well as a double-bottom retest. 

He said that we’re seeing a weekly bullish divergence for the first time ever, with crypto “breaking above its 200-week moving average and holding support. One more week of consolidation before up, likely.”

The total market capitalization for #Crypto is still providing a clear picture.

Retest of all-time high in 2017.
Double bottom retest.
Weekly bullish divergence, first time ever.

Breaking above 200-Week MA and holding support.
One more week of consolidation before up, likely. pic.twitter.com/W4jpbEwHIY

— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) February 26, 2023

Santiment’s data suggests that Bitcoin and Ethereum are both having more traders sell at a loss than at a profit this week, the first such week so far in 2023. “Historically, once the crowd is exiting their positions more frequently at a loss, bottoms are more likely to form,” the analytics platform said.

#Bitcoin & #Ethereum are both having more traders sell at a loss than at a profit this week, the first such week so far in 2023. Historically, once the crowd is exiting their positions more frequently at a loss, bottoms are more likely to form. https://t.co/maEg5sDHM6 pic.twitter.com/0kvPUzbTQm

— Santiment (@santimentfeed) February 26, 2023

Analyst Justin Bennett believes that BTC’s current $23,000 price point is a “pivotal” moment in the market. If it loses out $22,600, it is highly likely that Bitcoin will trend toward $20,000, liquidating longs at approximately $20,800. “The only question is, do we get a retest of $23,800 first?”

$BTC $23k is pivotal.

Lose that and take out $22,600, and I think we see #Bitcoin trend toward $20k to liquidate longs at $20,800 (highlighted).

The only question is, do we get a retest of $23,800 first? pic.twitter.com/wPLDO2hkx7

— Justin Bennett (@JustinBennettFX) February 25, 2023

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