Autor Cointelegraph By William Suberg

Bitcoin (BTC) stayed rangebound after hitting ten-day highs on Dec. 22 amid fresh warnings over market “complacency.”BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingViewHow about a new year squeeze?Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView followed BTC/USD as it consolidated after coming within $400 of $50,000 overnight.Bulls were up against a significant sell wall around the psychologically significant level, with analysts calling for $50,500 to hit and hold in order to flip positive on short timeframes.”Today the seas will be parted making way for a shot at a higher low on BTC,” popular trader Pentoshi tweeted in a characteristic social media post. “I beg of bears, please. Come on the Ark. Come to safety. Ride with us to the dry lands of 53k where all can win and embrace in glory.”While the “Santa rally” has so far evaded both crypto and traditional markets, looking ahead, some were betting on a turnaround over the new year period.For trading firm QCP Capital, the key lay in forthcoming low liquidity over the holidays which could spark a short squeeze in an overly nonchalant market setup.”We reckon the market is getting complacent as spot ranges compress in this 45,500 – 49,500 channel. And now would be a great time to buy some wings (far strikes),” it advised Wednesday.”…We maintain our view that there will be a squeeze (likely to the topside) as liquidity thins out into the holidays and into 2022. If this happens, owning wings would be very profitable.”Funding rates on exchanges were positive yet neutral across exchanges at the time of writing, data from Coinglass showed, hinting at a lack of speculative activity.BTC funding rates chart. Source: CoinglassDollar abandons fresh gainsMacro cues remained muted at the Wall Street open, meanwhile, as a 4.3% jump in Tesla (TSLA) stock failed to impact Bitcoin performance.Related: Missed out on hot crypto stocks in 2021? It paid just to buy Bitcoin and Ethereum, data showsThe S&P 500 was slightly up after the opening bell, while the Coronavirus panic which had characterized the previous week appeared to subside.Further relief came in the form of a declining U.S. dollar, with the U.S. dollar currency index (DXY) heading towards 96 support throughout the day.U.S. dollar currency index (DXY) 1-hour candle chart. Source: TradingView

Bitcoin (BTC) neared $50,000 on Dec. 22 as hopes began to appear that the price correction could be over.BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingViewGet bullish once $50,500 breaks — AnalystData from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD hit highs of $49,600 on Bitstamp — its highest since Dec. 13.A cross-crypto boost from turmoil in the Turkish lira Monday lingered in spirit as Bitcoin and altcoins stayed higher, with attention now focusing on the new year and price levels above $50,000.“The first breakthrough has happened on Bitcoin. But, we still need to break enough levels to state that we’re bullish,” Cointelegraph contributor Michaël van de Poppe declared overnight. “Overall, a breakthrough at $50.5-51.5K and I’m convinced. Also, 2022 should become a great year overall.”#BTC Well look what we have here ladies and gentlemen.Our first green bar has appeared!Now we need to make sure this potential reversal doesn’t confirm. If the next bar does not confirm the reversal, then we should continue the breakout of the descending triangle ✅ https://t.co/MrbkrAqyXh pic.twitter.com/OliTqKrafx— John Wick (@ZeroHedge_) December 21, 2021With $50,000 constituting psychological resistance, others turned to on-chain metrics for further proof of underlying strength on Bitcoin.Among them was fund manager Dan Tapiero, who noted bullish signals on the moving average convergence divergence (MACD) indicator in what has historically been a time to buy.“Rallies start when least expected/when tired bulls give up,” he summarized.MACD involves the relationship between two exponential moving averages on BTC/USD, and a rebound from a downtrend has preceded price run-ups.BTC/USD 1-day candle chart (Bitstamp) with MACD. Source: TradingViewThe last time the buy signal appeared was at the end of September, right before Bitcoin rose to top new all-time highs just over one month later.Sentiment index almost doublesIn more encouraging signs for investors, altcoins began posting more significant daily gains through Wednesday.Related: Price analysis 12/20: BTC, ETH, BNB, SOL, ADA, XRP, LUNA, AVAX, DOT, DOGEEther (ETH), the largest altcoin by market capitalization, maintained $4,000, while standout Terra (LUNA) was up 16% at the time of writing.Ripple’s XRP token traded up 9%, with none of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap in the red.“If I’d want to position myself well, I’d want to buy into crypto at this stage,” van de Poppe added. “The sentiment is still not the best, while many altcoins are down a lot, some even 80% since their ATH. The adoption is even growing and price-wise, those coins are in heavy support zones.”The Crypto Fear & Greed Index saw a significant uptick overnight, jumping from 27 to 45 but still characterizing the market as being in “fear” mode.Crypto Fear & Greed Index. Source: Alternative.me