Bitcoin Price Analysis: Bulls defend $7,300 mark, Saturday’s close pivotal

The bulls appear exhausted in Saturday’s trading so far, as the recovery from two-week lows in Bitcoin (BTC/USD), the most favorite cryptocurrency, loses momentum on the 7,300 handle. At the time of writing, the spot trades near 7,345, gaining 1.30% over the last 24 hours while up nearly 0.50% on a weekly basis. Its market capitalization stands at $ 133.73 billion or 68.20% of the total market value.

Markets turn cautious and fail to buy into Friday’s recovery, as they see it as dead cat bounce amid bearish intraday technical set up while holiday-thinned volumes continue to persist.

Technical Overview

BTC/USD 1-hour chart

Having witnessed a solid comeback from near 6,855 levels on Friday, the BTC bulls are unable to extend the bullish momentum, leaving the coin listless in a tight range that portrays a rising channel formation. The natural tendency of the pattern is to the downside. Therefore, a break below the 7,323 level, the confluence of the 21- hourly Simple Moving Averages (HMA) and channel trendline support, will confirm a breakdown and bring back the 200-HMA horizontal support at 7,234 on the sellers’ radar.

The downslide will accelerate below the last, as the buyers seek the next strong support near the 7,185 region for their rescue. At the level, the horizontal 100-HMA and bullish 50-HMA coincide.

Alternatively, a bounce-back towards the 7,400 handle cannot be ruled out If the coin manages to defend the above-mentioned rising trendline (pattern) support. On a recovery above 7,400, the bulls could likely run into the next upside hurdle aligned at 7,482, the pattern resistance. For now, the hourly Relative Strength Index (RSI) trades flat but above the mid-line, suggesting that the sellers are likely to have a hard time fuelling a downside break. Therefore, Saturday’s daily closing remains pivotal to gauge the near-term direction in the No.1 coin.

BTC/USD key levels to watch