Bitcoin (BTC) stayed tightly rangebound at the April 3 Wall Street open as analysts counted down to volatility.
BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView
“Watch for rugs” on BTC
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView followed BTC/USD as it lingered around $28,000 on Bitstamp.
The weekend had finished on an erratic note as news of a Opec+ oil production cut sent crypto tumbling before a rebound during the Asia trading session.
Amid a lack of clear direction, monitoring resource Material Indicators flagged significant liquidity on either side of spot price on the Binance order book.
“We still don’t have a confirmed breakout or breakdown, only rejected attempts which have kept price chopping in this range,” part of fresh Twitter commentary added.
“It’s only a matter of time until one side breaks. Watch for rugs.”BTC/USD order book data (Binance). Source: Material Indicators/Twitter
Popular trader Crypto Chase agreed that BTC price action remained stagnant.
“Range bound,” he summarized, referring to the equilibrium price (EQ) at $28,234 — the midpoint of the upper and lower bounds of the trading range — holding over the weekend.
“Range EQ providing support for the past 4 days. Bulls want to see acceptance / daily close above 28.9K for expansion. Bears want a significant close below range EQ. At that point, prior support from EQ could flip to resistance sending price to retest range low.”BTC/USD annotated chart. Source: Crypto Chase/ Twitter
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Others were more categorical in their market appraisals. Maartunn, a contributor at on-chain analytics platform CryptoQuant, turned to longer timeframes to place emphasis on the success of the March monthly close.
Bitcoin has confirmed a break-out from a multi-month consolidation, and funding rates are negative pic.twitter.com/vBs7ipK8hw
— Maartunn (@JA_Maartun) April 3, 2023
By contrast, trader and analyst Rekt Capital warned that a retracement could be imminent.
#BTC continues to struggle at the Higher High resistance (black)$BTC will continue to be non-trending as it consolidates between the Higher High resistance & the green support at $27,000
Drop into green could occur soon
Lose that -> deeper retrace confirmed#Crypto #Bitcoin https://t.co/8sG1jswkDr pic.twitter.com/lsqDlenUpS
— Rekt Capital (@rektcapital) April 3, 2023
DXY heads lower after brief comeback
On macro, United States equities showed mixed results at the open, with the S&P 500 treading water and the Nasdaq Composite Index down 0.8%.
Related: BTC price double top forming? 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week
The U.S. dollar index (DXY), having initially benefitted from the Opec+ announcement, continued falling through the day, at one point wicking below 102, almost matching two-month lows.
U.S. dollar index (DXY) 1-day candle chart. Source: TradingView
“DXY has been rejected at its 50-week moving average,” analytics account Game of Trades noted the day prior.
“A bearish rejection on the MACD has increased the probability for further downside.”
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Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-breakout-matter-of-time-says-analysis-with-btc-price-at-28k