Bitcoin (BTC) stayed inflexible under $17,000 on the Dec. 19 Wall Road open as skeptical merchants feared extra draw back.

BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Supply: TradingView

BTC merchants name time on upside potential

Information from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView confirmed BTC/USD lingering across the $16,700 mark, virtually unmoved over the weekend.

The pair noticed solely fractional volatility on the open, as United States equities fell barely. On the time of writing, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite Index have been down 0.5% and 1%, respectively.

For Bitcoin merchants, there was little to rejoice, with consensus forming across the potential for testing decrease ranges subsequent.

“Bearish so long as it stays under the $19k,” Crypto Poseidon summarized alongside a chart.

BTC/USD annotated chart. Supply: Crypto Poseidon/Twitter

Standard dealer and analyst Rekt Capital highlighted $17,150 as an vital degree to reclaim to keep away from additional draw back afterward.

“If BTC continues to reject from the ~$17150 resistance… Then value may drop as much as -20% to the draw back within the coming weeks,” he predicted, importing the one-month BTC/USD chart.

Rekt Capital added that there was “nonetheless time for BTC to carry out a Month-to-month Shut above the ~$17150 degree later this month” however that “a Month-to-month Shut under ~$17150 would verify the beginnings of a breakdown from right here.”

Michaël van de Poppe, founder and CEO of buying and selling agency Eight, in the meantime, offered a barely extra hopeful outlook.

With extra U.S. financial knowledge anticipated towards the top of the week, BTC/USD had the potential to interrupt to the upside and goal $17,300 to then supply “brief alternatives.”

“No breakthrough, then searching for longs round $16.2K or $15.5K,” he countered.

BTC/USD annotated chart. Supply: Michaël van de Poppe/Twitter

Grayscale CEO: FTX was a “failure of individuals”

Information that Binance.US, the U.S. offshoot of crypto change Binance, had offered to accumulate the property of stricken lender Voyager, but it surely had no tangible impression on market efficiency.

Associated: ‘Wave lower’ for all markets? 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week

The most recent improvement within the FTX saga, the announcement got here as Binance itself continued to take care of what its CEO, Changpeng Zhao, once more called “FUD” over the weekend.

In a letter to buyers, in the meantime, Michael Sonnenshein, CEO of funding agency Grayscale, sought to attract a transparent distinction between FTX and crypto as a complete. Grayscale’s mother or father firm, Digital Foreign money Group (DCG), had beforehand additionally turn into caught up within the FTX aftermath.

“FTX Was a Failure of Folks, Not a Failure of Crypto: Too many buyers have been harmed. From crypto to conventional finance, mainstream media, and D.C. – it appears few have been spared from deception by means of false narratives and false documentation,” he wrote.

“We should always not, nevertheless, conflate the actions of some people and organizations with Bitcoin or Ethereum, the underlying blockchain expertise, or good contracts and decentralized finance purposes.”

Grayscale’s flagship product, the Grayscale Bitcoin Belief (GBTC), traded at a 48.7% low cost to the Bitcoin spot value as of Dec. 17 — its steepest low cost ever, in accordance with knowledge from Coinglass.

GBTC premium vs. asset holdings vs. BTC/USD chart. Supply: Coinglass

The views, ideas and opinions expressed listed here are the authors’ alone and don’t essentially mirror or characterize the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.