BTC price gains 6% as First Republic Bank drama delights Bitcoin bulls

Bitcoin (BTC $28,860) headed toward $29,000 on April 26 after overnight gains marked a solid rebound.

BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView

Bitcoin short squeeze risk on the rise

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD advancing swiftly during Asia trading to deliver 6.5% upside versus its local lows.

The pair had begun its comeback after the April 25 Wall Street open amid fresh concerns over United States bank stability.

These came as First Republic Bank reported a dramatic fall in deposits, its share price tanking 50% on the day.

A familiar catalyst for crypto markets, the banking crisis reminded investors that it had gone nowhere since March, with crypto sources already predicting its next chapter.

Eyeing the ongoing Bitcoin reaction, trading suite Decentrader warned that the market was still heavily short BTC, indicating a lack of trust in the uptrend’s durability.

“We've got Open Interest increasing and Funding Rate dropping which shows that a lot of people are shorting this move,” it told Twitter followers in an update.

Popular trader Crypto Tony was among the skeptics, revealing a hands-off approach and a target of around $28,900 to go short.

Trading resource IncomeSharks also considered a short opportunity to come next.

"BBands getting tight, looks like we are probably do for a little explosive move to the upside," a tweet read on the day, referring to Bollinger Bands volatility indicator cues.

Hit the 4h supertrend resistance, then I'll look to flip for a short to catch the downside if it looks weak.

BTC/USD annotated chart with Bollinger Bands. Source: IncomeSharks/ Twitter

BTC traders eye short opportunities near $29,000

While the negative funding rates in turn facilitated the potential for a “short squeeze” to liquidate bears, Decentrader added, data from monitoring resource Coinglass showed no extreme liquidation events for April 26 at the time of writing.

BTC liquidations chart. Source: Coinglass

“A strong bounce from the lows as expected, my Bitcoin longs are printing,” a more optimistic Jelle meanwhile wrote in an update, having longed BTC near $27,000.

Expecting a minor dip into the area we just broke, before continuing higher. The 4h candles may look scary, but I'm not worried. 30k remains the target for this trade.

BTC/USD annotated chart. Source: Jelle/ Twitter

Adopting a long-term perspective, financial information resource Stockmoney Lizards also remained bullish.

"Bitcoin chart is easy to read. Very repetitive," it argued about the 5-day BTC/USD timeframe.

Bear market ended in 2022. BTC will continue to trend up (with minor pullbacks).

BTC/USD annotated chart. Source: Stockmoney Lizards/ Twitter