Autor Cointelegraph By William Suberg

Bitcoin (BTC) regained fresh ground on April 21 after bears failed to gain control of short-term price action overnight. BTC/USD 1-day candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingViewTrader: Holding $42,300 could open up path to $50,000Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD reaching new local highs of $42,455 on Bitstamp Thursday.With the Wall Street open still to come, upward momentum meant that the pair was now at its highest since April 10. Wednesday’s opening bell had nonetheless been accompanied by bearish price pressure, and traders thus remained cautious about what could come next.”If the market wants to see continuation, it has to crack that region around $42.3K for Bitcoin,” Cointelegraph contributor Michaël van de Poppe told Twitter followers. “This is also a daily breaker. If it breaks, I’m assuming a new test of $46K is around the corner and possibly $50k+.”Much stood in the way of a trip to $50,000 and reclaiming it as support. As Cointelegraph reported, in addition to various long-term moving averages, the yearly open, along with whale selling habits, have all kept bulls from exiting the 2022 trading range.”So far, so good for Bitcoin,” Van de Poppe reasoned in his latest update, noting that the U.S. dollar currency index (DXY) was continuing to retrace in what is traditionally a boon for crypto markets.”I don’t think the upside is done, as the $DXY is showing weakness.”Also emboldened at the prospect of stronger BTC price performance coming up was Blockchain protocol Terra, now famous as one of the largest Bitcoin whales after purchasing nearly 45,000 BTC in 2022.In a tweet on the day, the firm’s official account claimed that Bitcoin was in line to “get spicy,” hinting that it did not expect continuation of sideways price action.Things are gonna get spicy real soon. Beras beware. $UST $BTC— Terra (UST) Powered by LUNA (@terra_money) April 21, 2022Whales not in the mood for “up only” betsLooking at whales’ movements more broadly, however, there remained a lack of a convincing trend.Related: Analysts say Bitcoin has ‘already capitulated,’ target $41.3K as the most hold levelAs trader and analyst Rekt Capital noted on the day, buying and selling among Bitcoin’s largest hodlers remains caught in a narrow range.”Number of unique addresses holding min. 10K BTC has been increasing since Feb ’21,” he commented alongside data from on-chain analytics firm Glassnode. “That said, 1st signs of a Lower High forming as some whales offloaded positions at ~$43K. Whales generally accumulating but some sold lately. Could the Higher Low get revisited?”10,000 BTC wallet numbers vs. BTC/USD annotated chart. Source: Rekt Capital/ TwitterAddresses with at least 10,000 BTC peaked in 2018, with the bear market bottom of December that year causing a heavy reallocation.The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.

Bitcoin (BTC) bulls kept up the pressure on April 20 as the Wall Street open saw a return to $42,000.BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView$42,000 proves troublesomeData from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD reaching $42,220 on Bitstamp, its highest since April 11.After adding as much as 9.3% versus local lows from Monday, the pair was now in line for “interesting” behavior, according to Cointelegraph contributor Michaël van de Poppe.”Things get interesting at $42K,” he told Twitter followersLike others on the day, Van de Poppe highlighted declining U.S. dollar strength as a boon for BTC price performance.Bearish divergence on the Dollar $DXY, which is a great sign for further upwards momentum for #Bitcoin. pic.twitter.com/4BGSatk6f4— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) April 20, 2022Volatility was nonetheless heavily in evidence on the return to the significant $42,000 level, as others voiced a lack of faith in Bitcoin’s gains continuing.For popular trader Josh Rager, however, Monday’s dip to $38,600 and subsequent recovery was a pattern to keep an eye on.”The last couple of fake-outs led to over 30%+ uptrends,” he noted Tuesday. “Yesterday caught a lot of people off guard, though it wasn’t as deep of a pullback as prior. Could still see Bitcoin push up here over the next week – take it day by day.”An accompanying chart highlighted price performance after wicks down to support through 2022. This time, the target lay at around $48,000 — the site of Bitcoin’s 200-day moving average.BTC/USD annotated chart. Source: Josh Rager/ TwitterU.S. stocks fail to impress post-earningsOn macro, fluctuations in stocks came in for criticism from Rager, who argued that performance was being hampered by sentiment changes.Related: US dollar strength mimics 2020 coronavirus crash — 5 things to know in Bitcoin this weekUnusual moves in Netflix stock had become a talking point on the day after missed earnings sparked a mass sell-off.According to sentiment gauge the Fear & Greed Index, however, the mood was better overall on Wednesday, the Index reaching its highest score of April so far — 50/100.The Crypto Fear & Greed Index, by contrast, languished in the “fear” zone at 27/100.Crypto Fear & Greed Index (screenshot). Source: Alternative.meThe views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.