With traders’ downside targets already extending to $24,000 and below, some took the opportunity for more optimistic takes on both shorter and longer timeframes.Daan Crypto Trades noted upside potential thanks to the weekend losses opening up a CME futures gap.That gap stands between $26,150 and $26,500, with BTC/USD previously “filling” another within hours.CME Bitcoin futures 1-day candle chart. Source: TradingViewContinuing, popular trader Credible Crypto insisted that despite everything, long-term resistance levels for Bitcoin would not pose much of a problem in the end. $40,000, he repeated, was still a target of choice.“When you have a major correction down and folks are underwater there is resistance to the upside as moves up are sold into by bag holders. When you have capitulation down and folks have been drowned (forced to sell at the bottom) that sell pressure no longer manifests as we move up because ‘there is no one left to sell,’” part of weekend Twitter commentary read. “If bag holders dumped at the bottom then the only sell pressure above is from short term traders/profit takers and that’s not enough to stop a major impulsive move in its tracks for long. Expect ‘major resistance levels’ above to get melted through a lot faster than most are expecting.”Bitcoin runs gauntlet ahead of “massive” macro weekThe coming week offers a rare deluge of potential crypto price triggers from the wider economic and geopolitical establishment.MASSIVE Week: Monday:
– Deadline for Binance and Binance US to respond to SEC’s application for a temporary restraining order Tuesday:
– Motion for temporary Binance US restraining order hearing
– Hinman’s documents release (XRP)
– CPI Data ReleaseWednesday:
– US Rate…— Daan Crypto Trades (@DaanCrypto) June 12, 2023
In addition to the ongoing ramifications of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) versus multiple exchanges, macroeconomic data promises volatility of its own.June 13 will see the May print for Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation, and unlike last time, markets are expecting the Federal Reserve to enact a pause in interest rate hikes.This would end an uninterrupted hiking cycle which began in late 2021 — right when Bitcoin saw its current all-time high.Fed target rate probabilities chart. Source: CME GroupAccording to CME Group’s FedWatch Tool, the odds of a pause stood at 75% at the time of writing on June 12.With a loosening of economic conditions on the horizon, market commentators both within crypto and beyond are considering the odds of a risk asset rally.Biggest opportunity for equities to go higher? Rapid decline in inflation as rents and food costs come down, which allows Fed to pause int rate hikes in June and ultimately reduce rates by Y.E.Biggest risk? Narrow breadth.
– Eight stocks account for 30% of S&P 500 market cap… pic.twitter.com/WePpRfNzxz— Gary Black (@garyblack00) June 12, 2023
“Pretty convinced that the money maker this week is A Fed Pause/Skip which sends $BTC past 30k,” popular trader Traderhc told Twitter followers.Fellow trader Skew added that the CPI event would “likely set the mood” for the week’s price action.In addition to CPI, meanwhile, the June meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) has the potential to spark market-moving soundbites from Fed Chair, Jerome Powell.The rates decision is due June 14, along with a copycat announcement from the European Central Bank (ECB) a day later. June 15 will see additional macroeconomic data releases.Before all that, however, fallout from the SEC versus Binance and Coinbase saga may already move prices.“Tomorrow will be a big day for the market,” Philip Swift, co-founder of trading suite Decentrader predicted on June 11. “The SEC has to respond to Coinbase’s request for rulemaking… …and US district court hears SEC’s petition for temporary restraining order on binance US at 2pm. Buckle up.”Bitcoin fundamentals to the moonAs is often the case with Bitcoin, short-term price action is meeting its match in underlying network data which displays an altogether different trend.This week, as with almost every time in 2023, network difficulty and hash rate are aiming for new all-time highs.Hash rate is already higher than ever, according to some estimates, while difficulty will increase by approximately 2.5% on June 14. This will take it past 53 trillion for the first time.Data from monitoring resource BTC.com confirms that network fundamentals really are in “up only mode” despite BTC price pressures, with 2023 only seeing three difficulty reductions out of 12 adjustments in total.“Bitcoin hashrate will not stop growing. This is insane,” Mitchell Askew, social media associate at Blockware, reacted. “Mining is ruthless, free-market competition in its purest form.”Bitcoin network fundamentals overview (screenshot). Source: BTC.comAs Cointelegraph often reports, the concept of Bitcoin spot price following hash rate in particular has long been a mantra for industry stalwarts, among them the popular but outspoken BTC advocate, Max Keiser.Miner exchange inflows jumpSwift nonetheless described the current difficulty levels as “increasingly challenging” for all but the most robust miners.#bitcoin Miner Difficulty just made a new all-time-high!
An increasingly challenging environment for any underperforming miners.Difficulty now at 51.2 Terahashes.Free live chart: https://t.co/dEnNrrD4l4 pic.twitter.com/V8QNKyXAPv— Philip Swift (@PositiveCrypto) June 9, 2023
Data from on-chain analytics firm Glassnode meanwhile tracks the onboarding of miners in real time.“Despite an uncertain Macroeconomic environment alongside intensifying regulatory pressure, ASICs continue to come online as the Bitcoin Hash Rate (7DMA) reaches an ATH of 381 EH/s,” researchers commented on a chart of hash rate. “This is equivalent to 381 quintillion guesses attempted every second to solve the Block puzzle.”Glassnode data meanwhile appears to show miner inflows to exchanges hitting their highest daily levels since 2019 last week. Across the past week, #Bitcoin Miners have been sending a significant amount of coins to Exchanges, with the largest inflow equal to $70.8M. This is the 3rd largest inflow on record, -$30.2M less than the peak inflow of $101M recorded during the primary bull market of 2021. pic.twitter.com/w4fNFMcxr4— glassnode (@glassnode) June 11, 2023
Following up, James Straten, research and data analyst at crypto news and insights platform CryptoSlate, flagged mining pool Poolin as the likely main contributor to the flows.Whales boost BTC exposure during altcoin sell-offAnalyzing the impact of the latest crypto market upheaval, research firm Santiment meanwhile saw cause for bullishness.Related: A sideways Bitcoin price could lead to breakouts in ETH, XRP, LDO and RNDRThis, it argued in findings published on June 11, is thanks to the buying conviction of Bitcoin’s largest-volume investor cohort — the whales.As Cointelegraph previously reported, the largest class of whales has diverged from the rest of the investor base since May, accumulating while others distribute BTC.With altcoins tumbling at the weekend, whales appeared to take the opportunity to increase, rather than decrease, BTC exposure.“As altcoin madness has ensued, there quietly is a bullish divergence between Bitcoin’s accumulating whales and falling price,” Santiment commented. “With whale holdings moving up by ~1K $BTC per day while prices fall, there is reason to believe a strong rebound can occur.”Bitcoin whale activity annotated chart. Source: Santiment/TwitterAt the same time, sentiment across the broader crypto market continues to reject knee-jerk reactions to the news. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index remains in “neutral” territory, having barely moved in recent weeks, hovering around the exact center of its 0-100 scale.Crypto Fear & Greed Index (screenshot). Source: Alternative.meMagazine: Tornado Cash 2.0: The race to build safe and legal coin mixersThis article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.