Chris_Inks

One more push before Bitcoin retraces?

BITSTAMP:BTCUSD   Bitcoin
Good morning, traders. I'm trying a darker color scheme here, so let me know what you think. It is the beginning of the work week in the U.S. after the 3-day holiday weekend. Shorts jumped up over the weekend the short/long ratio currently stands at 1.1558. There are a couple of possible reasons for this: 1) big player could be baiting retail into shorting so they can initiate a short squeeze to get through the resistance at $7300-$7500, 2) an individual/entity could be playing contrarian and hoping that price dives, or 3) they are hedging their long spot position just in case price drops. As I am writing this, there was a push up to $7400, which was the equilibrium of the ascending channel, liquidating some shorts in the process. This moved price through the immediate resistance around $7330 which marked the top of the apparent ascending triangle. The target of that pattern would be the previous R3 pivot on the 6H TF at $7680. Remember, pattern targets are often not hit, so traders should never rely solely on them.

It is possible that the ascending triangle was a pennant, in which case the target based on the flagpole of the pattern would be around $7900. This was the pattern I was watching earlier this weekend, but the resistance at $7330 may be suggesting the ascending triangle mentioned above. The $7340-$7350 level is showing good support for the moment with resistance from $7400-$7500, $7550, and $7580. On Bitmex, there was a sell wall of about $42 million recently at $7700, but it is now around $22.5 million. All of this means that my target of the $7600-$7900 range as the top of this leg up, that I've mentioned for a few weeks based off various patterns we've talked about, is still valid, so we will see how price action plays out.

If we look at what's been going on in terms of Wyckoff, then we likely just completed another re-accumulation range. Bearish divergences are starting to show up on various TFs, however, so it becomes increasingly difficult to know if the top of this leg up is in now. If not, it does appear close at least. It seems to me that we have one more push into the zone mentioned above, but I can't guarantee anything. I have been talking about the CME Bitcoin futures gaps for a while now and Friday I mentioned the likelihood of it gapping up after the weekend which would require a retrace to fill it. At this point, price is currently filling the nearest daily gap but needs to close at $7380 or higher to do so. We then have gaps that require daily closes at/above $8415, $10,775, and $15005. Below current price, there are gaps that require a daily close below $7045, $6405, and $5885.

Those lower gaps, especially the sub-$6000 one, are why I continue to mention that a shakeout is still a possibility. A sudden drop down into the $5000s would get price under that gap, and then the following daily close would fill it. There is also the possibility we could see a continued push up toward the February high around $11,800 first, and then a move down and shakeout. This latter scenario would be the most productive for a shakeout as the retail herd would be much more bullish so the sudden drop would get rid of the remaining weak hands. In this scenario, the previous low is most like a secondary test, as I've mentioned the possibility, rather than a spring, and the shakeout would be a spring. The herd is "hoping" for bullishness right now, but they aren't believing it so a shakeout right now would not be as convincing. The latter scenario has me expecting a retrace down to $6800-$7200, depending on how high price moves first, before continuing up to challenge the February high. If you've been following my live streams this year then you already know these are the scenarios I deem most likely and why. I still see little-to-no reason for any prolonged move under $5000 at this time. As always, risk management remains key. Trading without a plan will make sure you don't last long.
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