Market Wrap: Bitcoin Stuck Below $50K, and Blockchain Data May Show Why

Bitcoin ended the first week of March with little fanfare as the market reset after the prior week’s 21% plunge. There are more signs the global economic recovery might come faster than previously expected, and traders are speculating on what that might mean for the largest cryptocurrency.

  • Bitcoin (BTC) trading around $49,196.78 as of 21:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Climbing 1.93% over the previous 24 hours.
  • Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $46,393.39-$49,462.13 (CoinDesk 20)
  • BTC trades above its 10-hour and 50-hour averages on the hourly chart, a bullish signal for market technicians.
Market Wrap: Bitcoin Stuck Below K, and Blockchain Data May Show Why
Bitcoin trading on Coinbase
Source: TradingView
Market Wrap: Bitcoin Stuck Below K, and Blockchain Data May Show Why
Source: CryptoCompare

This week’s muted price activity in bitcoin showed in the trading volume from eight U.S.-focused exchanges CoinDesk tracks. It has been flat over the past week, roughly a third of levels seen recently.

“Bitcoin is consolidating around $50,000 after rebounding from lows earlier in the week,” Jason Lau, chief operating officer at San Francisco-based crypto exchange OKCoin, said. “Most recently, its price action has been hovering within this range, while open interest in bitcoin futures has also remained consistent.”

$50,000 also appears to be a key short-term resistance level, according to IntoTheBlock’s newsletter Friday, citing a key blockchain data metric In/out of the money around price (IOMAP).

Market Wrap: Bitcoin Stuck Below K, and Blockchain Data May Show Why
In/Out of the Money Around Price
Source: IntoTheBlock

“A large cluster of addresses (1.46 million) and volume (650,970 BTC) had been bought slightly below $50,000,” IntoTheBlock wrote in the newsletter. “This price range, which already saw high levels of trading activity, is expected to act as strong resistance short-term as investors in this price range may look to break-even on their positions at this point.”