The Bitcoin price remained under pressure on Monday even as gold prices jumped above the important resistance at $2,000. The coin is trading at $38,762, which is slightly above the weekend low of $37,850. It is about 15% below the highest point during the weekend.
Why is BTC under pressure?
There are three main reasons why Bitcoin prices have been under intense pressure in the past few days. First, there are concerns about the Federal Reserve after the latest US jobs numbers. On Friday, numbers showed that the American economy added over 600k jobs in February while the unemployment rate dropped to 3.8%.
While these numbers were positive, they sent the wrong picture about the Federal Reserve. With inflation at elevated levels, there is a likelihood that the Fed will embrace a more hawkish tone in the coming meeting. In his testimony to Congress, Jerome Powell said that the bank will be careful when it comes to rate hikes.
Second, the BTC price is struggling because of the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, where Russia is continuing its assault. The country’s military has been bombing residential areas, killing thousands of people. As a result, western countries have intervened by blocking Russia to the outside world, leading to a sharp decline in stocks while crude oil prices have jumped.
Third, there are concerns about cryptocurrency regulations now that western countries have announced significant sanctions. There are concerns that cornered Russians will start using the coins now that Russia has been cut off from the SWIFT network. Therefore, gold and Bitcoin have diverged because investors seem to be believing that the former is a good safe haven.
Bitcoin price prediction
The four-hour chart shows that the BTC price has been in a strong bearish trend after it formed a double-top pattern at $45,426 last week. The coin has moved slightly below the 25-day and 50-day moving averages. The two lines have also done a bearish crossover while the price has moved below the 38.2% Fibonacci retracement level.
Therefore, the coin will likely have a bearish breakout in the coming weeks as bears target the next key support level at $34,300. This view will be invalidated if the coin moves above $41,000.
