Bitcoin had a surprisingly disappointing price performance this past week, despite the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approving trading in spot BTC ETFs. The price of the flagship cryptocurrency almost broke through to $49,000 at the height of this positive news, but has since fallen back below $43,000.
Ali Martinez, a popular crypto analyst on the
Analysts predict a 20% price drop for BTC
In a recent one message on X, the crypto expert shared an update on his analysis of Bitcoin’s price chart over the three-day time frame. On January 4, Martinez initially identified a rising parallel channel, which appears to be controlling Bitcoin price action since September 2023.
In price analysis, a rising parallel channel is a technical analysis pattern with two parallel ascending trendlines. Although it is usually a bullish chart pattern, the ascending parallel channel can signal a short-term bearish move or even a trend reversal.
BTC price in an ascending parallel channel on the three-day timeframe | Source: Ali_charts/X
Martinez noted in his post that the current setup appears to be in order after the Bitcoin price was rejected from the upper limit of the parallel channel at $48,000. Following this price correction, the analyst has predicted $34,000 at the lower limit of the channel as the natural next stop for the major cryptocurrency.
A downward move to $34,000 would represent a significant 20% drop from Bitcoin’s current price point. However, according to Martinez’s analysis, it may not all look bleak for the world’s largest cryptocurrency.
On the upside, the analyst expects a quick recovery in the Bitcoin price after the downward spiral to $34,000. Martinez said the crypto pioneer could make a return to the $57,000 upper limit.
Bitcoin price overview
At the time of writing, the Bitcoin price stands at $42,909, reflecting a negligible decline of 0.6% in the past 24 hours. The leading cryptocurrency has struggled to stay above $43,000, having suffered a massive drop below $42,000 on Friday.
Meanwhile, BTC’s gains since the turn of the year have fallen to just 1.6%, calling into question the coin’s bullish future. According to data from CoinGecko, Bitcoin is down almost 3% on a weekly basis.
Nevertheless, BTC maintains its position as the largest asset in the cryptocurrency sector, with a market capitalization of approximately $841 billion.
Bitcoin price hovers around $43,000 on the daily timeframe | Source: BTCUSDT chart on TradingView
Featured image from iStock, chart from TradingView
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