Trading volumes have stood nearly unchanged at around $24 billion as most cryptocurrencies have entered a stage of consolidation following the early March sell-off.
However, market sentiment continues to be heavily depressed as reflected by the Fear and Greed Index. Although this sentiment gauge has improved from last week’s record-low of 17 (which signaled that investors were in extreme panic) it is still standing at 25, meaning that the predominant mood of the market is bearish.
Bitcoin-linked exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have been heavily impacted by BTC’s negative performance lately. Data from CoinShares indicates that $5.4 billion have flowed out of these products in the past 5 weeks.
Of that total, investors have taken $1.7 billion out of BTC ETFs during the first half of this month. Although year-to-date funds flows are still in positive territory at $612 million, that could change at any point if BTC keeps dropping.
The firm’s weekly report emphasized that this is “the longest negative streak since our records began in 2015.”
BTC found support temporarily last Tuesday at around $78,000 and bounced off this level. A double-bottom pattern was confirmed as a result, yielding a 9% return thus far.
Momentum indicators in the daily chart favor a positive near-term outlook as the Relative Strength Index (RSI) currently stands above the signal line. Meanwhile, the MACD’s histogram shows steadily rising positive momentum despite today’s downtick.
The $78K level is currently the most critical support for BTC. A break below that marker could result in a 6.4% drop for the top crypto as the next area of support would be found at $73,000.
However, BTC’s double-bottom pattern is still in play and, until otherwise confirmed, the short-term outlook for the token is bullish.
Moving to the hourly chart, BTC is dropping decisively below a key support during the Asian session already and it is now threatening to retest the $80,000.
This opens up an interesting opportunity for short-sellers as this trade offers a risk-reward ratio of nearly 2:1 if the stop price is set below BTC’s most recent support at $82,000 and the target is set at $80,000.
The American session will likely determine if this is a bear trap or if the downtrend that started yesterday could accelerate until BTC retests this key psychological threshold.
Market sentiment and ETF outflows favor a bearish outlook for the token while both the weekly and daily charts are on a downtrend, meaning that sell-offs would produce faster and higher returns compared to recoveries.
Momentum indicators in the hourly chart are also in negative territory as the Relative Strength Index (RSI) is nearing oversold territory and stands 30% below the signal line.
Meanwhile, the MACD’s histogram shows steadily rising negative momentum readings just an hour away from the American session.
Total liquidations of Bitcoin long positions in the past 12 hours currently stand at $102 million and already account for two-thirds of the total longs flushed out in the past 24 hours. This provides additional evidence that the selling spree is picking up its pace.
Alejandro Arrieche specializes in drafting news articles that incorporate technical analysis for traders and possesses in-depth knowledge of value investing and fundamental analysis