After setting a swing high at $31,790 on July 13, Bitcoin has recoiled back to its sideways range with $30,000 providing support. The decreasing price volatility means that a breakout could happen in either direction. In the meantime, investors are moving their funds to altcoins to benefit from short-term gains.
Bitcoin Price Bears Aggressively Defending the $31K-$32K Supply Zone
BTC price tried to break away from consolidation on July 13, after a US judge ruled that XRP was not a security, handing Ripple Labs victory over the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). But the excitement appeared to be short-lived as sellers embarked on profit taking, pulling Bitcoin back into the $30,000 – $31,000 range, as shown on the chart below. This shows that the bears are fiercely defending this zone between $31,000 and $32,400.
The price action has caused a decrease in volatility evidenced by the constriction of the Bollinger Bands. As the bands squeeze toward each other, BTC edges closer and close to a breakout in either direction.
The decreasing volatility was also validated by the flattening of the Relative Strength Index (RSI), close to the middle line. The price strength at 53 suggested that the buyers and sellers were balancing out.
The bearish divergence from the RSI indicates a weakening bullish momentum. The bears will try to build upon their advantage by pulling the price below the $30,000 psychological level. If they succeed, the BTC/USD pair could descend to the 50-day simple moving average (SMA) at $28,676.
BTC/USD Daily Chart
If bulls want to prevent the decline, they will have to quickly push and sustain the price above $31,000. The pair could then climb to $32,000. A break and close above this level will clear the path for a potential run to $40,000 as there are no major resistances in between.
In the meantime, altcoins are taking advantage of the drab price action displayed by the flagship cryptocurrency to attract customers. Some of them are recording double-digit gains at the start of the week on Monday.
These are led by 1inch Network token (INCH) which is up 48% over the last 24 hours and 0ver 81% over the last week. This is attributed to various integrations into the network including SushiSwap and Velodrome.
š¦ #1inchWeeklyRecap #74
Updates and integrations:
š @SushiSwap V3 and @VelodromeFi V2 were integrated with 1inch, as well as @_WOOFi V2 on #zkSyncEra
Events:
š§āš» 1inchās devs joined @Ledger Developer Experience event on July 11
š The āUnicorn Colorsā party will be hostedā¦ pic.twitter.com/WQufC3XX9R
ā 1inch Network (@1inch) July 14, 2023
Other top gainers include Algorand (ALGO) which is up 9.32% on the day, dYdX (DYDX) which has rallied 8.16%, and Basic Attention Token (BAT) which has increased by 7.25% over the last 24 hours.
Top gainers today
XRP is still benefiting from the hype around Judge Analisa Torresās ruling that it is not a security when traded on exchanges, resulting in many exchanges like Coinbase relisting the remittances token.
XRP price is up 5.24% over the last 24 hours and still holds above $0.75. Its weekly gains are at 60%.
Therefore, as investors wait to see what direction Bitcoin will take, short-term traders are cashing in on the gains made by altcoins
