Bitcoin Price Analysis: BTC/USD recovery stalls, as hash rate trending higher

After an initial recovery attempt on December 5-6, Bitcoin (BTC) entered a range-bound phase. The first digital coin has been next to paralyzed for the last three days. BTC/USD range is limited by $7,608 and $7,390 (December 7 high and low respectively). At the time of writing, BTC is changing hands at $7,475, mostly unchanged both on a day-to-day basis and since the beginning of Monday.

Hash rate on the recovery path

Notably, Bitcoin's hash rate has recovered from the recent low and dispelled some fears about miners capitulation ahead of halving event. The hash rate shows how many hashes per second bitcoin miners are performing. This indicator correlates with mining difficulty and dictates the computation power of the equipment used to mine the coins. The higher is the hash rate the more costly it is to discover the blocks. 

At the time of writing, Bitcoin's hash rate is registered at 94 Th/s from 78 Th/s on November 26. The recent peak was reached at $114 Th/s on October 23.

Bitcoin's technical picture

On the daily chart, the initial support is created by psychological $7,400 reinforced by the middle line of the daily Bollinger Band. It is closely followed by $7,350. This barrier is created by 61.8% Fibo retracement for the move from $3,226 to $13924). Once it is broken, a psychological $7,000 will come into focus. Considering a layer of speculative buy orders, this area is likely to limit the downside for the time being.

On the upside, the initial resistance is created by December 7 high at $7,600. It is followed by the upper line of the daily Bollinger Band at $7,900 and psychological $8,000. Meanwhile, vital resistance awaits us on approach to $8,250. This area is strengthened by bu SMA50 (Simple Moving Average) daily. The coin has been trading below this area since November 13.

BTC/USD, the daily chart