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Bitcoin price dips below $17K as recession fears rise to the surface

Jordan Finneseth

Kitco News

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(Kitco News) - The boost to markets following Wednesday’s speech from Fed Chair Powell began to fade on Thursday as traders came to the realization that while the pace of interest rate hikes may decline, the fact of the matter is that they are still on the rise and there’s a strong possibility that the economy is headed towards a recession.

These realizations led to a mixed day in the traditional markets as stocks fell under pressure early on Thursday and spent the remainder of the day trying to claw their way higher. At the close of markets, the S&P and Dow finished in the red, down 0.09% and 0.56%, respectively, while the Nasdaq managed to put on a gain of 0.13%.

Data from TradingView shows that Bitcoin (BTC) trended lower throughout the trading day, with a brief whipsaw near midday which saw it spike to $17,306 before ultimately falling below support at $17,000. At the time of writing, bears are attempting to drive its price lower while bulls attempt to shore up support at $16,900.

BTC/USD 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView

Thursday’s price action largely aligned with what Kitco senior technical analyst Jim Wyckoff observed in his morning Bitcoin update when he said that the “Bitcoin-U.S. dollar prices are near steady on a routine pause after posting solid gains and hitting a three-week high on Wednesday.”

“Price action this week has seen a bullish upside ‘breakout’ on the daily chart to suggest a market bottom is in place and that prices can now move still higher in the near term,” Wyckoff added, highlighting that “Bulls have gained the near-term technical advantage.”

This outlook was confirmed by independent market analyst Michaël van de Poppe, who posted the following tweet highlighting the possibility of a move up to the $18,100 range.

Insight into the sentiment of experienced crypto traders following the events of November was best summed up in the following tweet from pseudonymous crypto trader AngeloÐOGE.

Altcoins enter consolidation

The wider altcoin market also entered into a consolidation period on Thursday following the gains seen on Wednesday, with the majority of tokens in the top 200 seeing red on the day.

Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360

Notable exceptions to the downtrend include Band Protocol (BAND), which gained 22.12%, a 22.09% increase for EthereumPoW and a 10.18% gain for TrustWallet Token (TWT)

The overall cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $853 billion, and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 38.2%.

By Jordan Finneseth

For Kitco News

Contact jfinneseth@kitco.com
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.