Bitcoin (BTC) neared $100,000 on Dec. 21 after a “monster” BTC price bounce delivered snap upside.
BTC/USD 1-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
BTC price starts weekend with sudden rebound
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView followed BTC/USD as it gained $7,000 in under 24 hours.
After liquidating leveraged long positions with a trip back to December lows near $92,000, finally offered some relief as the weekend began.
Reaching highs of $99,500 on Bitstamp, the absence of institutional trading appeared to make little difference as bulls pushed for a reclaim of six figures.
The rebound came as buyers returned to largest US exchange Coinbase, which had previously spawned sell-side pressure.
“Coinbase buying a lot since lows,” popular trader Exitpump summarized in a post on X, contrasting buying volumes with those of Binance.
Bitcoin exchange volume data. Source: Exitpump/X
Fellow trader Superbro noted that the 50-day simple moving average (SMA) had acted as clean support for BTC/USD.
Source: SuperBro
On hourly timeframes, he eyed potential breakout signal in the form of an inverse head and shoulders construction — a classic pattern that can mark for short-term and long-term lows.
BTC/USD 1-hour chart. Source: SuperBro/X
Continuing, trading account Doctor Magic described a “scam” breakdown signal from Bitcoin’s relative strength index (RSI) indicator.
RSI, an X post explained, could have been driven artificially low — an event that preceded previous periods of protracted BTC price upside.
“There is a reason I am obsessed about this RSI scam breakdown that I have been posting for a while now, it happened in every major leg up until the first local top,” he told followers, with a chart demonstrating the signal’s high price correlation.
BTC/USD 1-day chart with RSI data. Source: Doctor Magic/X
Daily RSI stood at 52 at the time of writing, preserving the crucial midpoint of 50. As Cointelegraph reported, during Bitcoin bull markets, RSI commonly holds above the “overbought” 70 level for extended periods.
Too little, too late for Bitcoin ETFs
Bitcoin returning near $100,000 appeared bittersweet for investors in the US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Related: Bitcoin whale support includes mid-$60K zone in new BTC price warning
On Dec. 20, the ETFs logged net outflows of nearly $300 million, data from sources including UK-based investment firm Farside Investors shows.
The largest of these, the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), saw its largest net outflows on record at $72.7 million.
US spot Bitcoin ETF netflows (screenshot). Source: Farside Investors
Dec. 19 meanwhile saw the aggregate total outflow for the ETF products hit its own maximum of $671 million.
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.