Bitcoin prices have experienced some modest volatility lately, breaking through $12,000 over the weekend and then declining below this key, psychological level earlier today.
After falling back toward $11,500 this morning, the world’s most prominent digital currency has been fluctuating primarily between $11,800 and $12,000, CoinDesk data shows.
[Ed note: Investing in cryptocoins or tokens is highly speculative and the market is largely unregulated. Anyone considering it should be prepared to lose their entire investment.]
‘Material Resistance’
The $12,000 level is providing “material resistance for Bitcoin,” said Jesse Proudman, CEO of crypto hedge fund Strix Leviathan.
“And as we’ve seen over the last week, breaching it will require significant sustained buying,” he added.
Kiana Danial, CEO of Invest Diva, offered a similar perspective.
“It’s safe to say that the $12,000 price point (and most round numbers above $10,000) act as a psychological barrier for the Bitcoin price action,” she said.
“The $12,000 zone in particular has acted as a resistance in the past, in September 2019, so it's creating psychological pressure for the bulls again.”
Tim Enneking, managing director of Digital Capital Management, provided a more optimistic point of view, stating that:
“BTC is certainly facing some resistance at 12k, but it totally pales in comparison to the resistance it faced and overcame at 10k – which lasted from October (or even September) of last year until last month.”
“The price has basically bounced off of 12k twice in one week and shows no real weakness,” he noted. “At worst, this is a period of consolidation.”
Bullish Momentum
While the digital currency may be struggling to break through $12,000 once again, several analysts emphasized bitcoin’s strong momentum.
“Sentiment remains in the hands of the bullish camp and another attempt to push the market higher should not come as a surprise,” said Denis Vinokourov, head of research for London-based digital asset firm Bequant.
He noted that while bitcoin fell close to $11,500 today, bulls placed upward pressure on the digital asset, driving it toward $12,000.
Marouane Garcon, managing director of crypto-to-crypto derivatives platform Amulet, provided similar input, stating that “sentiment clearly believes we’re in a bull market.”
“Volume is up across the board on both centralized and decentralized platforms,” he added. “Multiple assets are up 30% just about every week.”
“As other assets continue to rise people will take profit and roll it into Bitcoin,” said Garcon.
“The name of the game is still to stack sats,” he stated.
“Bitcoin’s continuation past $12,000 wouldn’t be much of a surprise.”
Disclosure: I own some bitcoin, bitcoin cash, litecoin, ether and EOS.