Bitcoin (BTC) price analysis: BTC/USD balances on the verge of $10,000

Bitcoin (BTC) managed to recover above $10,000 handle, but the upside momentum seems to be fading away. The first digital coin touched an intraday high at $10,185 and retreated towards $10.050 by the time of writing. BTC/USD has gained about 4.5% on a day-on-day basis and 3% since the beginning of Thursday.

Meanwhile, according to the head of US-based broker TD Ameritrade, Tim Hockey, the interest towards digital assets is on the rise again. He mentioned that the customers of the company were asking about Bitcoin and other digital assets more often. Moreover, scrutiny from the regulators and policymakers towards Facebook's Libra is one of the catalysts of growing interest, according to Hockey.

"There is a lot of regulatory scrutiny, whether it be for Libra or crypto generally. We would like to be able to participate, but we want to be comfortable with the risk to our clients and ourselves in a world where crypto has still got lots of debate about a number of items that we're all hearing about," he said in the interview with The Street.   

Bitcoin's technical picture

Meanwhile, BTC/USD recovery is capped by $10,200. This barrier is strengthened by a confluence of technical indicators: the intraday high of $10,185, SMA50 (Simple Moving Average) 4-hour, SMA100 and SMA200 1-hour and the upper line of 1-hour Bollinger Band. 

Once it is out of the way, the upside is likely to gain traction with the next focus on $10,450 and $10,650 (the upper line of 4-hour Bollinger Band). That's where new sellers may pop in and stop the recovery. However, a sustainable move above this handle may unleash bullish potential and push the price towards a critical $11,000.

On the downside, a sustainable move below $10,000 will push the price towards the initial support of $9,800 (SMA50 1-hour and the middle line of 1-hour Bollinger Band) This support is followed by $9,450 (the lower line of 1-hour Bollinger Band).

BTC/USD, 1-hour chart