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Bitcoin (BTC) enters the last week of March in uncertain territory as a strong weekly close still keeps $30,000 out of reach.

The largest cryptocurrency has sealed seven days of practically flat performance despite some volatility in between as the market seeks fresh direction. Where could it go next?

In what was a week of more surprises from the macroeconomy, BTC/USD spent much time reacting to decisions from the United States Federal Reserve and associated commentary.

Next up, however, is a period of relative calm, followed by a key monthly close, which analysis says could see the start of a new bullish trend.

Bitcoin is currently up 20% for March, meaning that the coming days will decide the strength of the ongoing recovery from multi-year lows.

Crypto firms setting up in Hong Kong ahead of a new licensing regime for crypto exchanges in June have reportedly found some unexpected allies in the region — Chinese state-owned banks.

According to a March 27 report from Bloomberg, Chinese banks including Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, the Bank of Communications Co., and Bank of China Ltd. have either started offering banking services to crypto firms in Hong Kong or made inquiries with crypto firms, according to "people with knowledge of the matter."

One source claims that a Chinese bank sales representative even visited a crypto firm's main office to pitch banking services. This is all despite an ongoing crypto ban in China.

Cointelegraph reached out to Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, the Bank of Communications Co., and Bank of China Ltd for further comment, but did not receive a reply before publication.

Asked for comment, Julia Pang, Head of Banking Relations at Hong Kong-based crypto trading platform OSL told Cointelegraph that her firm welcomed “growing interest from Chinese banks in engaging with the regulated crypto industry." 

Optimism-based lending protocol Kokomo Finance has been suspected of a $4 million “exit scam” that has seen user funds plucked out from the platform via a smart contract loophole.

Blockchain security firm CertiK alerted its followers to the “exit scam” in a March 26 Twitter post, noting that the Kokomo Finance (KOKO) token has plummeted 95% in value in a matter of minutes.

CertiK also noted that Kokomo Finance removed all social media accounts immediately following the alleged rug pull too.

CertiK said the deployer of KOKO attacked the smart contract code of a wrapped Bitcoin token, cBTC, by resetting the reward speed and pausing the borrow function.

After that, an address beginning with “0x5a2d..” approved the new cBTC smart contract to spend over 7000 Sonne Wrapped Bitcoin (So-WBTC).

The recent banking crisis in the United States seems to have shaken the belief of some customers in the legacy banking system. According to Federal Reserve data, customers pulled nearly $100 billion in deposits in the week ending March 15.

American venture capital investor and entrepreneur Tim Draper said in a March 25 report that “founders need to consider a more diversified cash management approach” due to the over-regulation of banks and micromanagement by the government. As part of a contingency plan, Draper suggested businesses keep “ at least 6 months of short-term cash in each of two banks, one local bank and one global bank, and at least two payrolls worth of cash in Bitcoin (BTC) or other cryptocurrencies.”

The move from the traditional banking system to cryptocurrencies may have already started as seen from the strong showing of Bitcoin in the past few days. Even after the recent up-move, investors do not seem to be hurrying to book profits in Bitcoin. However, the same cannot be said about most altcoins as they have witnessed a minor pullback.

In the short term, traders need to be selective of the cryptocurrencies to trade. Let’s study the charts of Bitcoin and select altcoins which may start the next leg of the up-move.

Bitcoin price analysis

Bitcoin has been hovering around the $28,000 level for the past few days. A consolidation after a strong rally is a positive sign as it shows that traders are holding on to their position, expecting a further up-move.

The recent banking crisis in the United States seems to have shaken the belief of some customers in the legacy banking system. According to Federal Reserve data, customers pulled nearly $100 billion in deposits in the week ending March 15.

American venture capital investor and entrepreneur Tim Draper said in a March 25 report that “founders need to consider a more diversified cash management approach” due to the over-regulation of banks and micromanagement by the government. As part of a contingency plan, Draper suggested businesses keep “ at least 6 months of short-term cash in each of two banks, one local bank and one global bank, and at least two payrolls worth of cash in Bitcoin (BTC) or other cryptocurrencies.”

The move from the traditional banking system to cryptocurrencies may have already started as seen from the strong showing of Bitcoin in the past few days. Even after the recent up-move, investors do not seem to be hurrying to book profits in Bitcoin. However, the same cannot be said about most altcoins as they have witnessed a minor pullback.

In the short term, traders need to be selective of the cryptocurrencies to trade. Let’s study the charts of Bitcoin and select altcoins which may start the next leg of the up-move.

Bitcoin price analysis

Bitcoin has been hovering around the $28,000 level for the past few days. A consolidation after a strong rally is a positive sign as it shows that traders are holding on to their position, expecting a further up-move.

Bitcoin (BTC) has a matter of days to go before beginning a new macro uptrend, the latest analysis says.

In his latest Twitter activity, popular trader and analyst Rekt Capital flagged a key monthly close in the making for BTC/USD.

BTC price action closely mimics past cycles

Despite facing problems flipping $28,000 to support, BTC price action is firmly on the way to abandoning its bear market.

That is according to Rekt Capital, who on March 26 presented an optimistic picture of how BTC/USD would likely finish the month.

The pair's recent gains have put it above a macro downtrend in place since its 2021 all-time highs, but the March close would be the first potential candle to complete above that trend line on monthly timeframes.