Bitcoin sought to close above $23,000 by the close on Feb. 26 as concerns over stubborn resistance intensified. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD hitting $23,318 on the day, up $600 from weekend lows.
The latest move marks a modest recovery in risk assets after a dismal week in which U.S. stocks were hit by higher-than-expected inflation data.
Still, bitcoin remains below important levels that analysts have flagged for a retracement towards the end of the month.
Only isolated voices remain optimistic, including popular trader Kaleo, who insists that $30,000 remains a “magnet” for BTC prices. “$BTC is still in transition from a bear market to a bull market, and once the neckline is broken, the upswing begins!” fellow trader and analyst Mags continued to sum up further. Meanwhile, looking ahead, Mike McGlone, senior macro strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence, expressed concern about the ability of bulls to break through the $25,000 resistance zone.
"Headwinds remain strong; markets have rallied - 'Don't fight the Fed' is the main market headwind in 2022 and remains so in Q1," he wrote in a new research abstract on Twitter. The study itself predicts that when it comes to BTC/USD, "the more tactical ones may focus on responsive selling," while "buy-and-hold types may take a while to gain the upper hand."
The previous week, hopes remained that $25,000 would not pose a major hurdle and that BTC/USD would be able to clear it without much trouble.
Ultimately, however, the enormity of the task becomes apparent — in addition to inquiries on exchange order books, key moving averages (MAs) lie above, especially Bitcoin’s 50-week and 200-week trendlines. The falling 50-week moving average itself led McGlone to conclude that the "trend remains down."
