Bitcoin Retreats From $35K; Miner Selling Pressure May Cap Prices, Crypto Hedge Fund Says

Bitcoin [BTC] briefly topped $35,000 Wednesday for the second time this week, but prices quickly reversed as that level appeared to trigger numerous sell orders, perhaps from miners, suggested one hedge fund manager.

The $35,000 area represents a monthly resistance level for the price, and could mean that bitcoin will consolidate below for some time following the crypto’s big run higher, said Charles Edwards, founder of Bitcoin-focused hedge fund Capriole Investments.

"Bitcoin miners are selling off more of their treasury than usual today; this can be a warning sign for consolidation," said Edwards. He noted an uptick in Capriole's Bitcoin Miner Sell Pressure, which indicates that BTC miners are selling a bigger part of their revenues than on average.

Read more: Bitcoin Mining Stocks Rally as BTC Holds Above $30K Despite Looming Halving Concerns

What's next for bitcoin?

Despite the short-term consolidation, Edwards suggests bitcoin could target the $40,000-$45,000 range in the coming weeks as the sell pressure subsides.

"While price may temporarily stall here at monthly resistance, the next significant trouble area is low- to mid-$40Ks," he said. "We expect bitcoin will take us there in short order given the data on hand."

The largest crypto by market capitalization also topped at around $35,000 on Monday, hitting a 17-month high as anticipation for a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund – coupled with some other catalysts – hit a fever pitch. Despite stories about imminent approval for a spot ETF turning out to be mistaken, bitcoin has retreated only modestly from that level.

Traditional markets looking shaky

While bitcoin pulled back nearly 2% following the run to $35,000, it remains higher by 1.6% over the past 24 hours. That’s a sizable outperformance over U.S. stocks, where the Nasdaq is lower by 2.4% and the S&P 500 by 1.4% early Wednesday afternoon.

The renewed tumble in stocks came alongside a sharp 13 basis point rise in the 10-year Treasury yield to 4.95%. Also on investor minds were poor Q3 earnings results from Google (down 9% today) and rising geopolitical worries.

Earlier Wednesday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Hamas was not a terrorist organization and canceled a planned trip to Israel. Shares in Istanbul closed 7% lower.