Bitcoin Fails to Build Traction on The Monday Rally – Faces Resistance at 200-Day Moving Average

On Wednesday Bitcoin maintained a flattish sideways movement around $6500 down from the highs of Monday.

A Quiet Wednesday

After the surge in Bitcoin’s price earlier on Monday, Wednesday was relatively a quiet day with hardly any movement in price. Monday’s move had seen BTC breaking out of the descending triangle formation to the upside. Had it held the price at the levels achieved on Monday, that could have signaled a possible higher move.

“This price action—shown on the chart below—was quickly sold-off but did decisively break the downward triangle, and needs to be watched carefully,” wrote Nick Cawley, markets analyst at Daily FX.

He added:

If BTC can close above this triangle over the next few sessions, it will indicate renewed bullish sentiment that could push the price back to the 200-day moving average and the spike high between $7,200 and $7,300.

Except for a few exchanges, the price on others could not break the resistance level at $6800 and by Tuesday fell back to the 21-EMA (Exponential moving average) which sits around $6435.

Key Resistance at 200 MA

BTC broke through the downward trend line, and the price did reach the 200-day moving average (MA) but failed to breach the critical resistance level. Currently, the 200 MA sits at $7210. This year BTC has come close to this key resistance level four times and every single time failed to breach it due to low volumes.

Early on Wednesday BTC was hovering around $6,492.68 against the USD pair, down 0.5% since Tuesday at 5 p.m. Eastern Time, on Kraken.

The top altcoins were mostly trading lower than their Tuesday levels. Ether was down 0.7% at $202.52, Bitcoin Cash was down 1.8% to $438.80, Litecoin was down 0.7% at $52.50, and XRP remained unchanged at 46 cents.

On the bitcoin futures markets, the CBOE Global Markets October contract expired yesterday, cash settling at $6,423.29, down 0.1% on the day, while the CME Group October contract closed unchanged at $6,420.

What Could Trigger the Rally?

The 10% surge earlier on Monday had brought hopes of a rally in Bitcoin. The move, however, could not gain much traction and price fell back to support level of $6500. Traders and investors of the cryptocurrency are hoping that ETF (Exchange traded fund) approval by SEC (US Securities and Exchange Commission) later this month and the launch of Bakkt, a cryptocurrency trading platform from ICE, next month could be the catalyst required to trigger the much-awaited bull run.

What in your opinion will help trigger the Bitcoin rally with enough to break the resistance at 200 MA? Let us know in the comments below.

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