Share this article

Bitcoin Price Eyes Triangle Breakout Above $6.4K

Bitcoin is again restricted in a narrowing price range, but technical studies indicate scope for a bullish breakout.

bitcoins

Bitcoin (BTC) is again trading in a narrowing price range above $6,400, but the lateral trading may soon give way to a rally, according to technical studies.

The price consolidation comes after Monday's big spike to three-week highs above $6,800, which weakened the bearish case put forward by last Thursday's violation of key support.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto for Advisors Newsletter today. See all newsletters

So far, however, a bullish follow-through has not materialized, possibly because buyers are waiting for a more credible evidence of bearish invalidation.

Also standing in the way of a potential rally are a number of major key resistance levels, as discussed yesterday.

Should BTC clear these key obstacles, then traders may feel convinced that the cryptocurrency has bottomed out again at the 21-month EMA support and could push prices higher toward long-term falling trendline resistance above $7,000.

The above scenario could play out if the three-day long narrowing price range (triangle pattern) is breached on the higher side. Interestingly, the moving averages on the short duration charts are aligned for a potential break above the triangle resistance.

At press time, BTC is trading largely unchanged on the day at $6,440 on Coinbase.

Hourly chart

btcusd-hourly-chop

The 50-, 100- and 200-hour exponential moving averages (EMAs) are trending north, indicating a bullish setup. Further, the stacking order of the 50-hour EMA above the 100-hour EMA, above the 200-hour EMA is a classic bullish signal.

As a result, BTC is more likely to cut through the upper edge of the triangle, currently at $6,460.

Another sign of a possible building directional change comes from the choppiness index, which has dipped below the 38.2 percent level.

So, it seems safe to say that triangle breakout, if confirmed, could yield a sharp move higher, possibly toward $6,800.

Daily Chart

btcusd-daily-chart-12

Over on the daily chart, BTC has cleared the trendline falling from July highs and the 5-day and 10-day EMAs are beginning to rise in favor of the bulls.

Thus, prospects of a triangle breakout are high.

View

  • A triangle breakout looks likely and if confirmed, would signal a continuation of the rally from the Oct. 15 low of $6,151 and open the doors to $6,800.
  • A downside break of the triangle would shift risk in favor of a re-test of the 21-month EMA of $6,123.

Disclosure: The author holds no cryptocurrency assets at the time of writing.

Bitcoin image via Shutterstock; charts by Trading View

Omkar Godbole

Omkar Godbole is a Co-Managing Editor on CoinDesk's Markets team based in Mumbai, holds a masters degree in Finance and a Chartered Market Technician (CMT) member. Omkar previously worked at FXStreet, writing research on currency markets and as fundamental analyst at currency and commodities desk at Mumbai-based brokerage houses. Omkar holds small amounts of bitcoin, ether, BitTorrent, tron and dot.

Omkar Godbole