Bitcoin is once again surging higher despite fears the coin was reaching a trend peak. Two hours ago, the cryptocurrency began its latest leg higher, pushing as high as $13,650 on leading digital asset exchanges. In the past 24 hours, BTC is up 5%, having found a short-term bottom in the $12,800 range after yesterday’s stock market retracement.
Analysts are mixed about what comes next for the leading cryptocurrency.
While many are certain that Bitcoin remains in a long-term bull trend, there are signs indicating a short-term retracement is possible.
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Bitcoin Hits $13,600 Amid Continued Surge
Bitcoin has thrust to $13,600 on an influx of buying volume. This brings the cryptocurrency to a new year-to-date high and just shy of the two-year highs at $13,950.
Chart of BTC's price action over the past 16 hours. Source: BTCUSD from TradingView.com
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ByBt, a derivatives tracker, reports that the futures market is hesitant to long this move.
The funding rates of leading Bitcoin perpetual markets are currently in the neutral to slightly positive range. The funding rate is the fee that long positions pay short positions three times a day to ensure that the price of the future stays close to the price of the spot asset/index.
This neutral funding indicates that neither long nor shorts are overleveraged. This could be bullish for Bitcoin as it indicates this rally may have some sense of sustainability behind it.
Technicals indicate that a retracement or at least a consolidation is possible, though. An analyst shared the chart below recently, noting that Bitcoin’s two-day Tom Demark Sequential is currently on a “sell 9” candle. This suggests that the cryptocurrency is likely to top out in the near term.
Chart of BTC's price action since the start of 2019 with an analysis of the stochastic RSI and the Tom Demark Sequential from crypto trader CryptoISO. Source: BTCUSD from TradingView.com
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Photo by Lisha Riabinina on Unsplash Price tags: xbtusd, btcusd, btcusdt Charts from TradingView.com Bitcoin Explodes to $13,600 as Buyers Continue to Rush In