Bitcoin Price Action Favors Bears But Profit Taking Overwhelms Each Rally

Bitcoin (BTC) traders pushed the price to $77,400, but data suggests profit-taking may thwart the bull’s goal of turning the $77,000 to $80,000 zone into support. 

Orderbook data from TRDR shows over $130 million in asks extending from $76,700 to $79,300. 

BTC/USDT Binance perps orderbook. Source. TRDR.io

Given Bitcoin’s negative futures funding rate and the small negative long-short delta (-$1.47 million at the time of writing), bulls have a slight edge in the short-term.

The situation could shift further in their favor if the BTC price pushes into short liquidity starting at $76,800, where there is a -$66.5 million to -$189 million negative delta, meaning short positions face a significantly higher risk of forced closure.

BTC/USDT long-short-delta. 7-day lookback. Source: Hyblock

From a technical analysis perspective, the current price action saw Bitcoin lock in $75,000 as support through a confirmed support-resistance flip, and it also traded back above the 20-day moving average ($76,067) after falling below it on Wednesday and Thursday. 

Related: Repeat Bitcoin profit taking near $77K suggests rally is losing steam

In the short-term, the most desirable outcome for bulls would be a repeat of this week’s price action, where, in this case, BTC rallies through the channel trendline resistance at $79,000, followed by another SR-flip to confirm $80,000 as support. 

BTC/USDT 1-day chart. Source: TradingView

Beyond the expected profit-taking kicking in at $77,000, a volume spike in either spot or perpetual futures markets is the missing ingredient to absorb the selling and extend BTC’s breakouts. 

As shown in the TRDR chart below, the bulk of BTC’s intraday moves stem from liquidations and the absence of sustained spot volume and long leverage, resulting in rallies that lack duration.  

BTC/USDT perps (Binance), 4-hour chart. Source: TRDR.io 

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