As Ether price struggles to regain $3k, Bitcoin feels ETF shortage.
Bitcoin (BTC) fell inward on February 20 as public holidays in the United States limited buying interest.
Bitcoin extends the side step
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView tracked the price of BTC at $51,329 on Bitstamp.
A flat start to the week ended on a cold foot for BTC/USD after the close on February 19, but a recovery later took the market back to $52,000.
Wall Street was closed a day earlier thanks to the President's Day holiday, which means no new entrants to the space have registered Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
As Cointelegraph continues to report, these earnings have consistently boosted market sentiment in recent weeks, creating a positive feedback loop as other institutions attempt to “front run” by buying BTC early.
In a recent commentary on X, Trading Resources Material Indicators suggested that the long weekend would allow BTC's price action to “decline a bit” after recent rapid gains.
Before diving in, another post with lower targets should bear the upper hand.
“If Bitcoin doesn't break out of here, consider the door to $51k open, and if not, look for the next support levels at $50k then $48.6k,” Material Indicators explained.
“If those are not caught, things can get very interesting in a short period of time. The long-term view has not changed.
The accompanying chart shows BTC/USDT order book liquidity on Binance.
Ether levels have not existed for about 2 years
Meanwhile, Bitcoin's relatively lackluster performance has shifted focus to the biggest altcoin, Ether (ETH).
Related: Prospects call for ‘altseason' led by Ether rally, analysts not convinced
Ether's price action continued its early week strength, with ETH/USD hitting a new 22-month high of $2,984 on Bitstamp.
“This is still a big time to roll over from Bitcoin to Ethereum,” X wrote in part of his response.
“The upward momentum continues in Ethereum, not Bitcoin.”
$ETH closes clean HH after recovering 1D HTF resistance ($2.7k – $2.8k)
The weekly open is always a good opportunity spot, otherwise structural HL dips are to buy imo.
Alts still have a lot of potential, assuming BTC stays strong after close to 1W pic.twitter.com/3odOWYNL31
— Skew Δ (@52kskew) February 20, 2024
Next, popular trader Skew argued that while altcoins generally look promising for traders, Bitcoin should maintain strength on weekly timeframes.
“Alts still have a lot of opportunity here, assuming BTC stays strong after nearing 1W,” he said, summarizing part of his latest X analysis.
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and business activity involves risk, and readers should do their own research when making a decision.
