Breaking: BTC/USD jumps above $10,000 only to retreat back to $9,980

Bitcoin (BTC) skyrocketed to $10,152 and dropped back below $10,000 in a matter of minutes. At the time of writing, BTC/USD is changing hands at $9,9980 amid short-term bearish bias. the coin has gained nearly 4% in the recent 24 hours, but further upside may be limited unless $10,000 is regained.

Leveraged shorts to blame

While the true trigger of the sudden Bitcoin growth remains unknown, some experts believe that a massive liquidation of short positions on the exchanges of cryptocurrency derivatives might have done the trick. Thus, Cointelegraph reports that traders started to exit leveraged shorts. The movement caught traders off-guard and the upside momentum started growing like a snowball. 

BTC/USD: Technical picture

The swift decline below $10,000 confirms that this area is too strong to be taken out at the first attempt. The price may continue the downside correction from an overbought territory with the first support created by the upper line of the 1-hour Bollinger Band at $9,930. This barrier is closely followed by $9,900 and the former resistance of $9,800. The downward-looking RSI on a 1-hour chart confirms this scenario.

BTC/USD 1-hour chart