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Bitcoin (BTC) threatened to ditch $23,000 as support on Feb. 25 as an ongoing price correction strengthened into the weekend.

BTC price support inches lower

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD attempting to decide the fate of the $23,000 mark on the day.

The pair had lost almost $1,000 on Feb. 24, ending the week in a limp position along with United States equities while the dollar gained.

With “out-of-hours” trading now in place until Monday, chances for thinner liquidity to spark more pronounced moves heightened.

Analyzing the state of the Binance order book, monitoring resource Material Indicators confirmed the continued existence of a major line of bid support informally known as the “Notorious B.I.D.” and “great wall.”

Bitcoin’s (BTC) recent price rally from $16,500 to $25,000 can be attributed to a short squeeze in the futures market and recent macroeconomic improvements. However, while prices increased, data suggests that many interested buyers (including whales) were left on the sidelines. 

The recent rally to $25,000 shared many similarities with the 2019 bear market rally, which saw a 330% surge in Bitcoin’s price to highs around $14,000 from the November 2019 low at $3,250. Recently, the BTC/USD pair rose 60% from its November 2022 low.

On-chain and market indicators relative to the 2019 rally are sending mixed signals on whether or not Bitcoin's rally will continue. Nevertheless, there are strong reasons to believe that the market has reached a crucial turning point where it can either turn into a full-fledged bull market or slump back into a long-term bear trend.

Let’s look at the top five indicators to understand the current price dynamic relative to the 2019 bull run.

Bitcoin tackles historical trading levels

Bitcoin’s price surpassed the 200-day moving average (MA) at $19,600, which could encourage paper traders looking to open a long position. Historically, this metric has acted as a bull-bear pivot line, with breakouts above it being bullish and vice versa.

Bitcoin (BTC) is struggling to stay above $23,000 as the weekend approaches. The selling pressure increased after the personal consumption expenditures excluding food and energy rose 0.6% in January and 4.7% over the year, above market expectations of an increase of 0.5% and 4.4% respectively. 

This could trigger fears that the United States Federal Reserve may have to continue its rate hikes to bring inflation under control. Expectations of a rate hike could strengthen the U.S. dollar index further, which is already near a seven-week high, and that may put pressure on the cryptocurrency markets in the near term.

A drop in the cryptocurrency markets may start a discussion that the rally in January may have been a bull trap. However, the price action in Bitcoin and several altcoins show that a bottoming formation may have begun. The next dip may form a higher low before attempting a move higher.

What are the important support levels in Bitcoin and altcoins? Let’s study the charts of the top-10 cryptocurrencies to find out.

BTC/USDT

Buyers successfully held the 20-day exponential moving average ($23,440) for the past two days but the failure to sustain the rebound attracted strong selling on Feb. 24.