Bitcoin (BTC) was pushing to flip $7,000 resistance to support on April 3 amid warnings that oil markets really will hit $10 a barrel this month.
Cryptocurrency market daily overview. Source: Coin360
Media: $10 oil could last the whole Q2
Data from Coin360 and Cointelegraph Markets tracked multiple attempts by Bitcoin bulls to push the market definitively over the $7,000 mark on Thursday and Friday.
At press time, all those attempts had failed to deliver support, with BTC/USD in each case falling back to the high $6,000 range.
Bitcoin 1-day price chart. Source: Coin360
Bitcoin surged higher earlier on Thursday, as anticipation built around an end to the ongoing oil price war which, according to United States President Donald Trump, could send the price of a barrel to just $9.
Fresh comments by Trump about an agreement sent oil markets spinning, with Brent crude gaining 30% in hours before comments by Russia contradicted the buoyant tone.
Speaking to CNBC, Victor Shum, vice president of energy consulting at insight provider IHS Markit, warned that $10 oil remained a firm possibility for April.
“We are projecting that Brent is going to drop to around $10 a barrel in April and will likely stay at that level in the second quarter,” he told the publication.
“There is little chance of any OPEC+ deal that’s going to save the crude oil market from the attack of the COVID-19. I think any talk of big cuts is probably too little, too late.”
Filbfilb: Bitcoin bulls are strong
For Bitcoin, meanwhile, previously cautious traders were now delivering increasingly upbeat forecasts for the short term.
In an announcement to subscribers of his Telegram trading channel, Cointelegraph Markets analyst filbfilb eyed a possible run to $8,000 as the next step.
“The bulls seemingly are strong here,” he summarized.
“Assuming the day closes something like it is now I favor the bulls to squeeze us up to ~8k.”
At $6,900, BTC/USD is just $300 below its position at the start of 2020, meaning Bitcoin has limited its year-to-date losses to just 4.3%.