- Bitcoin price broke above $22,500 to new highs above $25,000 amid the hunt for short stops and liquidations.
- The move to $25k resulted from short liquidations of over $155 million.
- While price could retreat to $24k, Bitfinex analysts say recent price movements could be indicative of a bottom.
Bitcoin price rose above $25k briefly before slipping back under the key psychological and technical area.
According to analysts at crypto exchange Bitfinex, the retreat to this week’s lows comes after a 10% upswing and a green weekly candle. However, the benchmark crypto did not hit a crucial daily candle close at that zone.
Even then, it is likely the price movement is another major step towards “the latter stages of a gruesome bear market,” the analysts noted in a report.
BTC spike to $25k fueled by massive liquidations
Bitfinex analysts also suggest that Bitcoin’s breakout from the $22,500 price level to highs above $25,000 was fueled by the massive liquidations recorded over the past few days.
Commenting on BTC price outlook and what could lie awake in coming weeks, they said in a statement shared with CoinJournal.
“Over the past two weeks, the BTC price has been hunting both over-leveraged long positions, as well as liquidating over-eager shorts of over $155 million. It reached an eight-month high of $25,000 in the process. Another sharp but short-lived pullback caught out some short-term bullish speculators off-guard who were betting on a push to the upper $25,000-$26,000s on Thursday, February 16th, as evidenced by a spike in long position liquidations on that day. Profit-taking in the wake of the recent rally and a stop-run on those who had gotten overly aggressive chasing the upside might well send Bitcoin back below $24,000 in the week ahead.”
On what happens next, the analysts say price action as has played out recently has historically, resulted in ranged price movement. This is due to the action that has seen both longs and shorts have been simultaneously wiped off.
“The most probable move going forward is to scale out of positions partially and wait for the range to form without a strong directional bias,” they explained.
In a tweeted prediction for Bitcoin price, YouTuber and crypto analyst Sheldon The Sniper says Bitcoin could go to $28k or revisit support at $21k. He shared the outlook above as BTC price continued to hover around $25,683 at 2:15 pm ET on Tuesday.
$BTC update
1Hour chart forming a flag and this is a crucial level for the market
We have a support and resistance trend and ultimately which ever trend we close outside of will give us the next direction . Break of resistance we go to 28K
Break of support we go to 21K pic.twitter.com/1BdbR0wpjR– Sheldon The Sniper (@Sheldon_Sniper) February 21, 2023