Bitcoin continues to trade as all eyes are on the Fed

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(Kitco News) – Little changed for the cryptocurrency market over the weekend as investors remain preoccupied with US policy announcements, including an update on the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Tuesday, followed by a potential 50 basis point increase in interest rates by the Fed on Wednesday.

While the crypto market continued to trade sideways, the same could not be said for the traditional markets as stocks climbed higher in trading on Monday. As a result of the bullish moves higher, the S&P, Dow and Nasdaq ended the day in the green, rising 1.43%, 1.58% and 1.26% respectively.

Data from TradingView shows that the day started with a 1.23% selloff in the price of Bitcoin (BTC), which fell to a daily low of $16,867 in early trade, but has since recovered above $17,150 where the price has been. supported since the beginning of December.

BTC/USD 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView

The early morning pullback did little to change the overall outlook for Bitcoin, according to Kitco senior technical analyst Jim Wyckoff, who noted that “The recent sideways and choppy trading action on the daily chart, or break, has the bulls and bears at a level overall technical playing field in the short term.”

Going forward, “the direction that BC prices ‘break out’ of the trading range is likely to be the direction of the next significant price trend in the market,” Wyckoff said.

A similar perspective was given in the latest “Trade Letter” from market analysts Luuk Koolen and Michaël van de Poppe of Eight Global, who said “BTC has been struggling with the $17k level for almost two weeks, which many see as the decisive level to to hold as a support, or to break through upwards.”

BTC/USDT 1-Day Chart. Source: TradingView

According to the analysts, “A breach of this level would result in a retracement of the low range,” while “A retracement of this low range could begin to create more upside momentum, which many traders are currently waiting for before taking positions.”

A look at the 2-hour Bitcoin chart shows that the price has made several attempts to break higher, “but is continuously pushed back creating stop chases,” the letter said.

BTC/USDT 2-hour chart. Source: TradingView

“At the moment we seem to be bouncing a bit on the order block around ~$16.8k, which acts as strong support. A little lower, around $16.4-16.6k sits a breaker block + a demand zone that many traders would anticipate, if the price should get there. For now, it’s good to keep an eye on these levels for long positions,” the report concluded.

Following the rally in Bitcoin near noon on Monday, Poppe posted the following tweet noting the climb up to a major resistance level and setting the stage for a potential continuation later in the week while highlighting a price target of $18,170.

#Bitcoin getting resistance now but a good bounce and therefore pretty decent daily candles across the markets.

Tomorrow and Wednesday there will be a fire. pic.twitter.com/NkxkHCs2rm

— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) 12 December 2022

Outstanding in the Altcoin market

As a whole, the altcoin market traded sideways alongside Bitcoin on Monday, barring a few standout performers.

Daily performance in the cryptocurrency market. Source: Coin360

The biggest gainer of the day was Magic (MAGIC), which climbed an impressive 36.89% after listing on top crypto exchange Binance. Other notable gains include an 11.62% increase for Ocean Protocol (OCEAN) and a 7.78% increase for BinaryX (BNX).

The total cryptocurrency market cap is now $844 billion, and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 38.9%.