Bitcoin (BTC) preserved short-term support on Sept. 17 as crypto market sentiment suffered.
BTC/USD 1-day chart. Source: TradingView
Bitcoin battles trend lines as trader faith wanes
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC price action reclaiming $58,000 into the Asia trading session.
After a broad sell-off at the Wall Street open the day prior, BTC/USD appeared to stabilize as the 21-day simple moving average (SMA) remained a foundation.
“To be clear, losing the 21-Day MA is not good, but IMO, closing above the 50-Week MA is far more important,” Keith Alan, co-founder of trading resource Material Indicators, wrote in part of a warning on X during the US trading session drawdown.
At the time of writing, the 21-day and 50-week SMAs stood at $57,858 and $53,945, respectively.
BTC/USD 1-hour chart with 21-day, 50-week SMA. Source: TradingView
Popular trader Jelle, meanwhile, noted that the 50-week exponential moving average (EMA) continued to function as market support in line with the past 20 months of the Bitcoin bull market.
“Bull market summer chop has become a regular occurrence,” he told X followers.
“The previous two chopfests both ended with new highs in the third week of October. We'd be about a month away from new all-time highs if this time plays out the same.”
BTC/USD chart. Source: Jelle/X
Jelle echoed a theory recently put forward by commentators, including crypto trader, analyst and entrepreneur Michaël van de Poppe, who reiterated his belief in a return to BTC price discovery next month.
For trader and analyst Josh Rager, however, it was too soon to adopt a clear optimistic stance on BTC price performance.
“People keep calling the ‘first higher-low’ on the $BTC chart. But people were saying the same thing in June,” he argued about daily timeframes.
“Then Bitcoin rejected the midline of the trend and formed a new low.”
BTC/USD 1-day chart. Source: Josh Rager/X
An accompanying chart showed a downward-sloping channel in place since March’s latest all-time high, with a regular succession of lower highs and lower lows.
“Not saying a new low comes here but calling this the bottom is a bit too early. Price rejected again,” he concluded.
Crypto sentiment takes a fresh hammering
Meandering price action on Bitcoin, meanwhile, contributed to a fresh dip in the overall crypto market mood.
Related: Can Bitcoin price overcome the $60K 'double breakout' zone?
The latest data from the Crypto Fear & Greed Index recorded a value of 33/100 on Sept. 17 — a dip of 17 points in just two days.
Sentiment thus dropped from “neutral” to “fear” after a BTC price drop of little more than 4%.
Crypto Fear & Greed Index (screenshot). Source: Alternative.me
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.