Bitcoin (BTC) price was testing support at $10,500 on Sept. 4 after its latest move upwards began to stabilize.
Market visualization. Source: Coin360
Bitcoin primed for fresh bull market
Data from Coin360 showed BTC/USD coming off local highs around $10,750 to float around $10,520 on Wednesday, still up almost 10% versus the start of the week.
Markets reacted warmly to the new gains, which reversed previous bearish sentiment that a further towards $8,000 was imminent.
Bitcoin 7-day price chart. Source: Coin360
Now, in the face of continued technical strength, analysts suggested the climate was right for further major gains.
PlanB, the Twitter account well-known for its analysis of Bitcoin’s stock-to-flow ratio, concluded current conditions translated into the beginning of a fresh bull market.
“#bitcoin: clear for take off,” he summarized on Twitter uploading a chart of Bitcoin’s 200-week moving average.
That particular metric is significant for PlanB, as lows consistently coincided with the beginning of Bitcoin price ascents to new highs.
Considering the related 20-week moving average meanwhile, popular trader, Filb Filb, arrived at a similar conclusion.
“The 20 WMA (also the middle of the weekly Bollinger Bands) has proven to be important in Bitcoin’s cycles; supporting price in a bull market and suppressing price in a bear market,” he explained in his latest newsletter. Filb added:
“My overall market assumption is that we are in the early phase of the next Bitcoin cycle.”
Altcoins miss chance to embrace gains
On altcoin markets, Bitcoin’s progress sparked only a faint hint of upward momentum before familiar sideways trading continued.
On Wednesday, most tokens in the top twenty cryptocurrencies by market cap were completely flat, moving less than 1% up or down.
Ether (ETH), the largest altcoin, fell by a negligible 0.35% to remain at $177. Others, such as Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Litecoin (LTC) and NEO (NEO), delivered modest gains.
Ether 7-day price chart. Source: Coin360
The overall crypto market cap stood at $267 billion as of press time, with Bitcoin’s share at 70.5%, a more than two-year high.