The supply continues to dry up, and this unusual volatility might end soon.
Bitcoin had a volatile and violent start to Q2 as its price tumbled at the beginning of April to a five-month low of under $75,000. This massacre transpired during the darkest days (for now) of US President Trump’s escalating trade war against the rest of the world.
As his policy and intentions became clearer and he paused the tariffs against every single nation except for China, BTC started to recover and gained $20,000 in the next couple of weeks. Since it broke above $90,000, though, over a week ago, the asset has remained sluggish in a tight sideways channel between $93,000 and $95,000.
There was a breakdown attempt yesterday, but the lower boundary held strong, and BTC is back testing the upper one now. According to several key metrics, this consolidation phase could be nearing an end, hinting at an upcoming substantial price move.
Squeezing BBs
Popular crypto analyst Ali Martinez highlighted the reduced volatility as of late, which is shown by the squeezing Bollinger Bands. The momentum indicator, composed of three lines with the Simple Moving Average (SMA) in the middle, has tightened on the 4-hour BTC chart, and Martinez warned that “a major price move could be just around the corner.”
Although the BBs are a secondary technical tool and do not provide a clear indication of the direction of the move, the analyst said BTC has a notable chance to head north if it remains above the key support of $93,198, which has held its price on a couple of occasions in the past week.
Moreover, BTC could surge toward a new all-time high of around $114,230 if it breaks above $95,870, he added.
Accumulation Skyrockets
The second and third signs hinting at an upcoming big BTC move are somewhat similar, but they are worth differentiating. On one hand, we have the growing accumulation of whales. As reported yesterday, these market participants had acquired $4 billion worth of bitcoin within just two weeks.
On the other hand, there are the BTC ETFs, which broke the previous negative streak and recorded a positive one from April 17 to April 30. Although this trend came to an end yesterday, it was with a minor $56.3 million in outflows, which is far below the billions attracted before that.
Martinez highlighted these substantial purchases and noted that the BTC Accumulation Trend Score has neared 1, which is a clear indication of larger entities going on a shopping spree.
The number of bitcoins sitting on exchanges has been gradually declining, reaching a five-year low. While this is another bullish sign for the future price movements of the underlying asset, Swan’s analysts explained why it hasn’t reacted yet.
