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(Kitco News) - The cryptocurrency market ended the week with a whimper as the sideways price action for tokens continued, with Bitcoin (BTC) holding support near $29,400 while the broader altcoin market traded mixed.
Stocks closed out the last full trading week in July on a positive note as the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure – Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) – showed that inflation continues to moderate, with prices rising 4.1% year-over-year, the lowest reading since September 2021. At the closing bell, the S&P, Dow and Nasdaq were all in the green, up 0.99%, 0.50%, and 1.90%, respectively.
Data provided by TradingView shows that Bitcoin remains trapped in a range between $29,200 and $29,700, with bears and bulls evenly matched in strength, resulting in stagnant price action.
BTC/USD Chart by TradingView
The lack of price action was also evident in the futures markets, according to Kitco senior technical analyst Jim Wyckoff, who said, “August Bitcoin futures prices are near steady in early U.S. trading Friday” in his morning Bitcoin update.
Bitcoin futures 1-day chart. Source: Kitco
“Prices are still in a fledgling downtrend on the daily bar chart, albeit at higher price levels,” Wyckoff said. “Bulls and bears are on a level overall near-term technical playing field at present. That suggests more choppy and sideways trading in the near term.”
Insight into Bitcoin’s struggle to escape the current trading range was provided by market analyst Moustache, who posted the following chart highlighting that BTC is currently trading near a major support/resistance level that goes all the way back to early 2021.
#Bitcoin$BTC is sitting at the most-important level in the last 2.5 years.
— ????????????????? ?? (@el_crypto_prof) July 28, 2023
Most out there are probably not aware of what it means, when BTC reclaims this level as support.
The floodgates are open for MUCH higher prices after that + we won't see BTC <30k for a long time imo.?? pic.twitter.com/weN7E3ohsd
Cubic Analytics founder Caleb Franzen said the recent resilience of BTC at $29,200 is increasing his confidence that the top crypto could soon break higher.
Feeling an increasing level of confidence that #Bitcoin holds above these two AVWAP's on Coinbase daily candles:
— Caleb Franzen (@CalebFranzen) July 28, 2023
?? Former YTD highs (April 2023)
?? Pre-BlackRock lows (mid-June 2023)$BTC has been able to hold above this level, with perfect confluence from both AVWAP's. pic.twitter.com/Dwwzy85unw
“Buying Bitcoin here,” Franzen said in a follow-up tweet.
While many analysts have voiced similar bullishness, market analyst Crypto Tony warned that the BTC price could drop to support at $28,000 as long as it continues to trade below $29,600.
$BTC / $USD - Update
— Crypto Tony (@CryptoTony__) July 28, 2023
I am still short while holding below that $29,600 resistance zone legends. I expect continuation down to $28,000 in time, but for sure we could range here for a little while before the drop pic.twitter.com/KbfFVaRlNT
Altcoins consolidate
Altcoins traded mixed, with a majority of tokens in the top 200 recording slight gains.
Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360
Kyber Network Crystal v2 led the gainers with an increase of 15.3%, followed by an 8.38% gain for Bone ShibaSwap (BONE) and an 8.18% increase for Liquity (LQY). Toncoin (TON) and Synthetix (SNX) were the two biggest losers with declines of 3.74% and 3.22%, respectively.
The overall cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $1.18 trillion, and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 48.1%.
