Bitcoin traders are staring at a classic chart pattern that could rocket the cryptocurrency to $113,200, but one economist is screaming from the rooftops that it's all a 'huge sucker's rally.'
The recovery may keep chugging along as long as Bitcoin nails a daily close above $98,000, with the technical setup projecting 18% gains ahead. Bitcoin's price traded 9.5% above its Jan. 1 open of $87,500, and traders were confident that BTC's short-term "trend is up" as the price approached a key level of interest.
Bitcoin price consolidates around $95,000 as bulls face a major barrier ahead. Technical analysis shows an ascending triangle targeting $113,200 BTC price. Bitcoin price is at an "inflection point."
Bitcoin's ability to return to a six-figure price hinges on overcoming the resistance at $98,000 — the short-term holder (STH) cost basis. This is the critical point on traders' radar and one that has not received a convincing retest recently.
"$BTC is approaching a key inflexion point," said Glassnode analyst Chris Beamish in a Friday post on X, adding: "Reclaiming the STH cost basis would signal that recent buyers are back in profit, typically a prerequisite for momentum to re-accelerate."
MN Capital Founder Michael van de Poppe said as long as the BTC/USD pair holds above the 21-day moving average at $91,200, "the trend is up," and it will just be a matter of time until it breaks $100,000.
Analyst Mags spotted Bitcoin bouncing from a multi-year trendline in the weekly timeframe. "Bitcoin is bouncing from the long-term trendline support it has been holding since March 2023," Mags said in their latest analysis on X, adding: "Each time the price has bounced from this support, we have witnessed a strong run-up."
Note that the last time Bitcoin bounced off this trendline in October 2023, it rallied 172% to its previous all-time high of $73,800, reached on March 14, 2024.
Other analysts expect the BTC/USD pair to push higher into the six-figures, citing several factors, including whale accumulation, strong institutional demand, and positive onchain metrics.
The BTC/USD pair is currently retesting the horizontal trendline of an ascending triangle. A major resistance zone sits between $96,000 (100-day EMA) and $99,500 (200-day EMA), which bulls must overcome to open the way for a run-up toward the measured target of the triangle at $113,200.
Bitcoin is consolidating in an "ascending triangle along with confirmed weekly hidden bullish divergence," said analyst Matthew Hyland in a recent post on X, adding: "Price goes up."
The relative strength index has increased to 64 on Friday, from oversold conditions in mid-November. This suggests Bitcoin is "trading strong but is pretty far from being overbought in the short term," Daan Crypto Trades said, adding: "There's definitely a good amount of room to move higher for now. Just need the bulls to hold the lower timeframe bullish market structures."
A bullish divergence from the RSI and a MACD cross provided classic reversal signals as bulls eye $101,000 as the next major level to reclaim for a trend confirmation.
Meanwhile, economist and long-time Bitcoin skeptic Peter Schiff has urged investors to abandon digital assets in favor of physical commodities. "Big moves are coming in precious metals and Bitcoin. Investors need to prepare. For gold and silver, that means buying more physical metal and loading up on still incredibly undervalued mining stocks," he said.
He claims that Bitcoin holders have to sell now before the next "crash." Earlier this week, he opined that there was a huge sucker's rally in Bitcoin, dismissing the cryptocurrency's recent gains. When asked why anyone would buy Bitcoin instead of gold or silver, he simply implied the choice made little sense in an uncertain macro world.
In another reply, he also took a shot at Saylor's Strategy, noting that the stock trades at a discount to its Bitcoin holdings. "The more Bitcoin you buy, the more MSTR's share price should fall," he argued. He said some traders were exiting gold and silver mining positions to chase short-term gains in Bitcoin ETFs and MicroStrategy ($MSTR), a move he deemed ill-advised.
"That's a big mistake, and savvy traders should take advantage by buying mining stocks and selling Bitcoin and MSTR," Schiff said. Earlier this week, the price of the leading cryptocurrency spiked to an intraday high of $97,939 on Jan. 14. However, it has since retraced its gains.
Schiff's long-term predictions are also not-so-rosy. In a social media post published on Jan. 7, Schiff predicted that Bitcoin would "kill itself and those who own it" by 2035. In the meantime, investment firm VanEck is predicting that Bitcoin could potentially hit $1.9 million by 2050. "These guys were hired to be bullish on Bitcoin. Their analysis is worthless," he snapped on Jan. 12.
