Bitcoin Price Analysis: BTC/USD hit the pause button

• BTC/USD stays in the range after wild movements.
• The initial support is created by SMA50 1-hour.

Bitcoin (BTC) is changing hands at $5,300. the coin managed to recover after a massive sell-off on Monday and settled safely above $5,000; however, the further recovery seems to be limited for now as the short-term trend remains bearish. On a day-to-day basis, BTC/USD has gained over 13%, while its market share stayed at 63.7%.

According to analytical service Skew, Bitcoin has lost nearly 30% of its value in the first quarter so far. However, the experts note, that the first digital coin tends to lose ground during the first three months of the year. Since 2014, Bitcoin lived through five bearish first quarters out of seven (Q1 2020 included). However, the second quarter is supposed to be better.

Intotheblock statistics imply that about 41% of all Bitcoin addresses are in the money, which is a significant improvement from 25% registered on Monday. Notably, the number of large transactions also edged higher, while an average transaction size reached $29,000 on March 16 from $21,000 on March 15.  

BTC/USD: Technical picture

From the short-term point of view, BTC/USD is locked in a tight range. The first digital asset has been $5,150 and %5,400 since the beginning of the day without much progress in either direction. The initial support is created by SMA50 1-hour on approach to $5,150. If it is broken, the sell-off may continue towards psychological $5,000. this barrier should slow down the downside movement, though once it is broken, Monday’s low of $4.437 will come into focus.

On the upside, the initial resistance of $5,400 separates us from $6,000 (March 15 high is at $5,974). The next barrier awaits us on approach to $6,100. Once it is out of the way, the upside is likely to gain traction.

BTC/USD 1-hour chart