Bitcoin poised for another attack on $24K as trader predicts 'bearish February'

Published at: Jan. 31, 2023

Bitcoin (BTC) rose above $23,000 into the Jan. 31 Wall Street open as markets braced for a fresh macroeconomic reckoning.

Trader: $25,000 "best case" for BTC/USD

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD gaining around 1% in a single hourly candle before the start of trading, overcoming resistance in place overnight.

With hours to go until the monthly close, the pair remained around $800 short of its weekend highs, which at $23,950 marked Bitcoin’s strongest performance since mid-2022.

Inspecting the status quo, however, traders were unconvinced that the largest cryptocurrency would produce further gains in February.

January, had produced upside of over 40%, making it Bitcoin’s best first month of the year since 2013.

“Another high up to $25,000 is the absolute best case for me on Bitcoin,” popular trader Crypto Tony told Twitter followers on the day.

He added that he expected a “bearish February” with price targets of $21,400 and even $19,000.

Crypto Tony also referenced the U.S. dollar, which spiked to two-week highs on the day to continue a four-day uptrend. The U.S. dollar index (DXY) is traditionally inversely correlated with crypto markets.

On that note, fellow trader and analyst Scott Melker, known as “The Wolf of All Streets,” focused on the weekly candle close of the S&P 500 after the index closed above its 50-week moving average for the first time since April last year.

“SPY closed a weekly candle above the 50 MA for the first time since April. Currently testing it as support, with FOMC coming tomorrow and a volatile week likely. Watch the close on Friday,” he tweeted on the day.

Bitcoin evokes run-up to all-time highs

Formal analysis from on-chain analytics firm Glassnode nonetheless steered clear of predictions for next month.

In the latest edition of its weekly newsletter, "The Week On-Chain," analysts focused on the significance of January as the month that Bitcoin came back to life.

"As the end of January approaches, Bitcoin markets have seen the strongest monthly price performance since Oct-2021, fueled by both historic spot demand, and a sequence of short squeezes," it summarized.

"This rally has brought a large portion of the market back into profit, and resulted in futures markets trading at a healthy contango. We also note that initial impulse of exchange outflows, in the aftermath of FTX have calmed to neutral, and are now balanced by newly motivated inflows."

As Cointelegraph reported earlier, various sources believe that Bitcoin's rally is already coming to an end.

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