Brisk gains encounter resistance at $42,000, but stock markets may be to blame.
Bitcoin (BTC) bulls kept up the pressure on April 20 as the Wall Street open saw a return to $42,000.
BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView
$42,000 proves troublesome
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD reaching $42,220 on Bitstamp, its highest since April 11.
After adding as much as 9.3% versus local lows from April 18, the pair was now in line for “interesting” behavior, according to Cointelegraph contributor Michaël van de Poppe.
“Things get interesting at $42K,” he told Twitter followers.
Like others on the day, Van de Poppe highlighted declining U.S. dollar strength as a boon for BTC price performance.
Bearish divergence on the Dollar $DXY, which is a great sign for further upwards momentum for #Bitcoin. pic.twitter.com/4BGSatk6f4
— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) April 20, 2022
Volatility was nonetheless heavily in evidence on the return to the significant $42,000 level, as others voiced a lack of faith in Bitcoin’s gains continuing.
For popular trader Josh Rager, however, April 18’s dip to $38,600 and subsequent recovery was a pattern to keep an eye on.
“The last couple of fake-outs led to over 30%+ uptrends,” he noted on April 19.
“Yesterday caught a lot of people off guard, though it wasn’t as deep of a pullback as prior. Could still see Bitcoin push up here over the next week — take it day by day.”
An accompanying chart highlighted price performance after wicks down to support through 2022. This time, the target lay at around $48,000 — the site of Bitcoin’s 200-day moving average.
BTC/USD annotated chart. Source: Josh Rager/ Twitter
U.S. stocks fail to impress post-earnings
On the macro side, fluctuations in stocks came in for criticism from Rager, who argued that performance was being hampered by sentiment changes.
Related: US dollar strength mimics 2020 coronavirus crash — 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week
Unusual moves in Netflix stock had become a talking point on the day after missed earnings sparked a mass sell-off.
According to sentiment gauge the Fear & Greed Index, however, the mood was better overall on April 20, the Index reaching its highest score of April so far — 50/100.
The Crypto Fear & Greed Index, by contrast, languished in the “fear” zone at 27/100.
Crypto Fear & Greed Index (screenshot). Source: Alternative.me
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