Bitcoin Price Slide Negates Long-Term Bull Market

Bitcoin's (BTC) double-digit drop may have sent the bulls packing, however, a long-term bearish reversal is still not confirmed, technical studies indicate.

At press time, the leading cryptocurrency is changing hands at $6,422 on Bitfinex – down 13 percent from the previous day's high of $7,404.

Notably, BTC has erased gains made in the last two weeks in a single day. Further, the sharp drop has poured cold water over the optimism generated by the falling channel breakout and the bullish turn of the weekly MACD.

Still, it is premature to call a long-term bullish-to-bearish trend change, as the prices are holding well above the crucial support of $6,000.

As seen in the above chart, the bears have repeatedly failed in the last 11 weeks to secure a weekly close (Sunday's UTC close) below $6,000 (Feb. 6 low), signaling the sell-off from the record high of $20,000 has run out of steam.

Hence, the bears will likely feel emboldened if BTC closes the week below $6,000.

One way to determine whether BTC will end this week below the significant support is to study the line chart, which paints a better picture of the broader trend by focusing only on the UTC close, unlike the candlestick chart, which also takes into account the daily high and low.

BTC has charted a pennant pattern on the daily line chart. A UTC close below the pennant support of $6,340 would signal a revival of the long-term market. Thus, the probability of BTC ending the week below $6,000 would rise sharply on pennant breakdown.

That said, BTC may not suffer a bearish close on the line chart today, as the sell-off is looking overstretched on the short-duration charts.

The relative strength index (RSI) on the 4-hour chart is hovering at its lowest level since June 11, signaling extreme oversold conditions. A similar sentiment is being echoed by the hourly chart RSI. Hence, a minor corrective rally cannot be ruled out.

Disclosure: The author holds no cryptocurrency assets at the time of writing.

Bitcoin image via Shutterstock; Charts by Trading View

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