Bitcoin sells off after $44K resistance tap, eliciting scrutiny from options traders
Bitcoin (BTC) fell more than 2% from local highs during Jan. 12 in the latest move to keep market participants guessing about what's to come for the largest digital asset.
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView tracked the pullback for BTC/USD after the pair hit its highest levels in more than a week.
A trip to $44,450 on Bitstamp after the Wall Street open was followed by an hourly candle which at one point sparked losses of $1,500.
A fresh sign that rangebound activity remains the order of the day for Bitcoin, bulls were disappointed after multiple calls for a fairly easy squeeze toward $46,000.
For popular trader and analyst Scott Melker, " there was still no clear sign of direction."
"Still just chopping sideways," he told Twitter followers on the day, noting that Bitcoin had swept lows with its sub-$40,000 dive earlier in the week, which was also in line with his own predictions.
Fellow Twitter account Daan Crypto Trades further highlighted $45,700 as an upside target important for a resistance/ support flip.
"The $45.7K level is the next area of interest that's on my radar. It will be key to flip that level for the bulls," he wrote.
Others were more hopeful of a paradigm shift coming in the mid-term.
"Over the coming days and weeks, BTC may reveal a new market structure in which case it would be well worth paying close attention to it," trader and analyst Rekt Capital forecast.
Related: Traders say Bitcoin run to $44K may be a relief bounce, citing a repeat of December’s ‘nuke’
New research also suggested why $40,000 was short lived as a dip and $44,000 conversely became an area of resistance afterward.
According to crypto trading firm QCP Capital, the determining factor lies in options markets, which have now
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