Bitcoin retests key $20K level- can bulls get a higher close?

Bitcoin price rose sharply again on Friday as a dose of volatility helped BTC add nearly $1,000 within hours to top the $20,000 mark. Indeed, the BTC/USD pair rose as high as $20,182 on crypto exchange Coinbase – up from an intraday low of around $19,154 reached earlier in the day.

The price update below shows one instance where price had increased by over $800 in 24 hours.

The $BTC price is at $20,126.22 right now.
🟢 Compared to the last tweet, the price has increased by $102.69 (0.51%).
🟢 In the last 24 hours the price has increased by $877.21 (4.56%).#Bitcoin #BTC pic.twitter.com/8l6osOlq4d

– Bitcoin updates (@Bitcoin8News) September 30, 2022

The upside for the flagship crypto asset cascaded across the altcoin market, with Ethereum also seeing a swift jump to above $1,370 and Ripple’s XRP holding to most gains after ripping higher earlier on another score for the company is its case with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Elsewhere, the US stock market also opened slightly higher, although the muted move is not helped by the prevailing negative sentiment. The S&P 500 trades at levels not seen since 2020 and as is likely, it could slip lower to end the brutal Q3 in the red.

Can bulls see a higher BTC monthly close?

September has been a brutal month across the risk assets market, with Bitcoin oscillating around the $20k level with some painful dips towards the $18,000 support area.

Now with the normal market session just hours away from the monthly close, the attention could be on whether bulls can avoid a second consecutive red month. As seen on the chart below, BTC is about 1.8% in the red, with August seeing the cryptocurrency dump more than 13%. 

Bitcoin has had a red month in four out of the last five, with the last one ending with BTC/USD just above the critical $20k. 

A higher monthly candle close Friday could set up fresh bids for the weekend and push BTC/USD higher. It’s an outlook that’s likely if $19,600 holds and a push for $20,300 opens up the $22,000 resistance line.