Bitcoin hit $53,000 before plummeting, analysts say there is still "the last retracement before halving"

On Tuesday, Bitcoin fell again, from an intraday high of $53,019 to a low of $50,812, a drop of 4%. The price has since recovered and is trading at $52,330 at press time, down 0.15% in the past 24 hours. Over the past week, the price of Bitcoin has fluctuated roughly between $51,000 and $52,500.

Ethereum, the second-largest crypto asset by market value, followed a similar trend, falling to $2,900 after breaking $3,000 for the first time since April 2022.

What’s Behind Bitcoin’s Price Pullback?

Cryptocurrency trader and analyst Rekt Capital shared the following chart in a post by X, saying that Bitcoin has “one last pre-halving retracement” left before resuming its uptrend.

Independent market analyst Sjuul noted that Bitcoin’s funding rate is high, warning traders to “expect a correction across the board. In my opinion, this is the buy-on-the-dip opportunity we are all looking for.”

Market intelligence firm Santiment noted that “big moves by mid-sized traders are often an excellent signal for” profit-taking and “buying the dip.” “In the past 2 weeks, stablecoin holders with $10,000 to $100,000: added $44.3 million in USDT,” suggesting they may be waiting for a pullback and are ready to buy on dips.

One analyst noted that $53,000 is a major resistance level for Bitcoin to move up, and this rejection could foreshadow further consolidation below this level, which coincides with the weekly Ichimoku Cloud chart. This price range is a key resistance area on the long-term chart, which limited gains in the second half of 2021.

Will the trend continue sideways in the future ?

Traders and market analysts believe that the repeated fluctuations are part of the "five-stage" Bitcoin halving cycle, and that Bitcoin may experience a pre-halving pullback before entering a widely expected post-halving parabolic uptrend.

After prices rose more than 30% since the launch of the Bitcoin ETF in late January, a failed attempt to break through $53,000 could foreshadow further consolidation in the current range. Vetle Lunde, senior analyst at K33 Research, said: "The current price level is an important technical level for BTC, coinciding with both the peak of the 'El Salvador' rally in September 2021 and the resistance level before the crash on December 4 of the same year."

Analysts at cryptocurrency analytics firm Swissblock noted that Bitcoin’s stagnant momentum could signal a further pullback and a potential buying opportunity.

Crypto technical analyst CryptoCon noted that the $53,000 area also marked the top of the previous market cycle on the weekly Ichimoku Could, a momentum and trend indicator that posed major resistance to BTC prices in 2016 and 2019, while breakouts in early 2017 and late 2020 cleared the way for a new uptick until new all-time highs were set.

According to a chart published at CryptoCon X, Bitcoin’s price first recovered to similar levels during the first two bull runs, followed by a long period of consolidation, while the price breakout occurred in the late stages of Bitcoin’s market cycle, after the four-yearly Bitcoin halving event.

CryptoCon said in the post, "Ichimoku Could have twice marked an intermediate top, a rejection point, and a long sideways period. A breakout of this now would be almost a full year earlier than usual."

Long-term upside

Data from IntoTheBlock shows that Bitcoin traders are focusing on the next phase of the current rally. The IOMAP model shows that Bitcoin has a very strong support level between $9,300 and $9,600, with nearly 898,000 holders previously purchasing 732,000 BTC, and 1 million addresses with long positions around $9,800, which can be seen as resistance for BTC to reach $10,000.00, as investors who previously purchased at this price may want to break even.

Independent analyst Ali said that bull buyers are now preparing for a new "battle" to defend the support area between $52,000 and $51,700, and a closing price above or below this area "will determine the direction of BTC's next move."