Bitcoin (BTC) disappointed traders after the Feb. 19 Wall Street open as sellers quickly quashed early gains.
BTC/USD 1-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
BTC price action teases “early-stage bullish divergence”
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD rejecting from daily highs of $96,677 on Bitstamp.
Unable to shake its low-timeframe range, Bitcoin maintained what had become a repetitive series of stable trading during Europe and Asia hours flipping to downside for the US session.
“$BTC US Market Open sell offs are pretty rough recently,” popular trader Daan Crypto Trades wrote in part of an X post on the day, highlighting the Wall Street selling.
BTC/USD 15-minute chart. Source: Daan Crypto Trades/X
Fellow trader Roman described the trading range as “absolute carnage.”
“Constant fakeouts on both sides, low volume, & hard to determine momentum,” he summarized.
Seeking cause for optimism, Cold Blooded Shiller noted weakening momentum on each sell-off, seeing the potential for a push to $101,000 should a major short squeeze event take place.
As Cointelegraph reported, the area immediately above the $100,000 mark is already on the radar as an upside target.
BTC/USD 1-day chart with RSI data. Source: Rekt Capital/X
Popular trader and analyst Rekt Capital meanwhile eyed what could become a bullish divergence on the daily Relative Strength Index (RSI).
“Subtle Lower Lows on the price action and Higher Lows on the RSI Potential early-stage Bullish Divergence developing on the Daily timeframe,” he told X followers.
Another post contextualized daily price action, with $97,700 a key level to reclaim as support for bulls.
BTC/USD 1-day chart. Source: Rekt Capital/X
Bitcoin gives way to booming gold
Continuing, trading firm QCP Capital described current sideways markets across risk assets as the “pain trade.”
Related: Bitcoin bull market can survive $77K BTC price dip in 2025 — Analyst
Geopolitical tensions and US trade tariffs remained a headache, it acknowledged, while crypto, and in particular altcoins, faced internal tailwinds.
“Despite these headwinds, Bitcoin remains resilient around the $95k level after dipping towards $93k, but struggling to break higher amid a lack of catalysts in the short term,” it concluded in its latest bulletin to Telegram channel subscribers.
XAU/USD 1-day chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
Gold once again formed a macro outlier, hitting yet another all-time high on the day and closing in on the $3,000 threshold.
“Gold prices have recorded 5 consecutive weekly gains, the longest streak since 2020. Over this time, gold prices have risen +11%,” trading resource The Kobeissi Letter responded in part of its latest analysis.
“This comes after a +27% gain seen in 2024, the third-best year since 1980.”
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.