BTC bulls’ next target: $67,000

Crypto markets moved higher on Monday after the successful implementation of Bitcoin halving last Friday. Bitcoin rebounded from a low of $64,525 in early trading on Monday and continued to climb towards the $66,000 support level, hitting a high of $66,905 in the afternoon. At press time, the price was trading at $66,535, a 24-hour increase of about 3%.

Altcoins climbed in Monday trading, with the vast majority of the top 200 tokens by market cap seeing positive gains, with only a dozen losing more than 2%. Ontology (ONT) was the biggest gainer, up 19.4% to $0.474, followed by Pepe (PEPE) at 16.4% and WEMIX (WEMIX) at 16.2%. Jito (JTO) led the decline, falling 5.5%, MEW falling 4.9% and Saga (SAGA) falling 4%.

The overall cryptocurrency market cap is currently $2.43 trillion, with Bitcoin’s dominance rate at 53.7%.

After experiencing the worst single-week performance in 2024, the major U.S. stock indices started the week higher. As of the close of the day, the S&P, Dow Jones and Nasdaq all closed higher, up 0.87%, 0.67% and 1.11%, respectively. The U.S. dollar index was flat and the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond fell 100 basis points.

Bulls target $67,000 resistance

Bitcoin has surged more than 5% since Friday, and the broad cryptocurrency market has also rebounded strongly, especially meme coins, which have rebounded by double digits. "If Bitcoin breaks through the $67,000 resistance level, it could set the stage for a rally to this year's high of $74,000," analysts at Secure Digital Markets said in a report.

Historically, Bitcoin halvings and supply reductions have often been catalysts for significant price increases. Analysts note that the increased attention on Bitcoin has brought additional attention to tokens within the Bitcoin ecosystem, and many say the sector will perform well in this bull cycle.

Market analyst Rekt Capital said that Bitcoin is currently in the accumulation phase after halving, and once it is completed, the only stage left before the end of the bull market is the parabolic rise phase.

Other tokens that have performed well post-halving include Bitcoin second-layer solutions and other Bitcoin-related projects such as Ordinals, with Secure Digital Markets stating: “In the field of Bitcoin’s layer 2 solutions, tokens such as STX, native to the Stacks network, have outperformed Bitcoin following the anticipated halving event. These layer 2 projects enhance scalability and transaction speed by running on the Bitcoin blockchain, facilitating off-chain transactions. For example, STX has risen nearly 20% to $2.95.”

Regarding spot Bitcoin ETFs, Dune Analytics data showed that the market welcomed a total of $59.7 million in net inflows on Friday, mainly driven by huge contributions from Fidelity and BlackRock. At the same time, Grayscale's outflows decreased, hitting the lowest level since April 10.

“In contrast, the ETH/BTC trading pair remains stagnant, hovering near yearly lows with no clear direction ahead,” the analyst added.

One analyst has warned that it is too early to say Bitcoin will open an upward channel as halvings have historically been followed by a period of price weakness.

Neil Roarty, an analyst at investment platform Stocklytics, said: "While historically, previous halvings have been followed by big bull runs, it's worth remembering that these bull runs only lasted a few months, not a few days or weeks. In fact, some analysts predict that the price of BTC will fall in the short to medium term, citing the reluctance of central bank officials to lower interest rates and the hesitation of venture capital to fully embrace the field, which may hinder the development of Bitcoin."

Neil Roarty added: “The investment environment for Bitcoin is much more complicated than it was four years ago, and those expecting a surge in BTC may well need to prepare for a marathon, not a sprint.”

BTC needs to reach $69,000 to confirm a breakout

Jag Kooner, head of derivatives at Bitfinex , said that despite the positive price action this week, it is too early to confirm the end of the current correction due to the decline in market depth, which could lead to greater price volatility.

“While we break out to the lower timeframes, it’s important to remember that following the massive liquidation event that saw over $2 billion liquidated over two days starting on April 12, market depth is significantly lower than it was just a few weeks ago,” he said in the note. “This means that open interest is lower, spot orders are smaller, and therefore smaller orders are more likely to move the market.”

Kooner warned that another liquidation could occur as more leverage begins to re-enter the market.

Haralampiev, head of structured products at Nexo , also said that if Bitcoin wants to set new highs, it first needs to break through the $69,000 mark. He said: "The key levels to confirm bullish sentiment and price movements are between $69,000 and $70,000. Ultimately, if market sentiment and positions continue to strengthen, prices above these levels may cause Bitcoin to try to break through historical highs."