Share this article
Bulls Under Pressure After Bitcoin Price Retreats from $4K
Bitcoin's recent forays into price territory above $4,000 have been beaten back, putting the bulls under pressure to regain momentum.
Updated Sep 14, 2021, 1:53 p.m. Published Dec 26, 2018, 1:20 p.m.
Bitcoin's recent forays into price territory above $4,000 have been beaten back over the holiday, putting the bulls under pressure to regain momentum.
The cryptocurrency had peaked to around $4,140 on Dec. 21, then to over $4,200 on Dec. 24, but dropped sharply back to around $3,720 early yesterday. A small bullish bounce since has now subsided and, at press time, bitcoin is changing hands at $3,762, as per CoinDesk data.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
The world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization now looks to be consolidating under a lower low, potentially building momentum for another push above $4,000 should buy pressure persist above two key resistance levels.
Daily chart
In our previous article, we discussed a possible visitation to resistance (R2 on chart) at $4,400, based on the measured Fibonacci extension taken on the daily chart. Bitcoin barely peaked out at $4,236 (R1), however, before it was rejected to lows not seen since Dec. 20, resulting in the formation of the temporary support.
Currently, it would appear that bitcoin doesn’t have the capacity to climb higher, as volume is falling with rising prices on the smaller time frames (1-hour chart, 30-min chart).
Pressure is now mounting for the bulls to make a play above $4,200 or risk conceding the short-term up-trend they had struggled hard to win.
2-hour chart
The bears will now be hoping to force prices down past the temporary support line and to close below $3,650.
The 2-hour volume bars are varied as price action continues to subside from the Dec. 24/25 sell-off, implying reactions are mixed and traders may begin to grow anxious at these levels. If so, another move down is most likely.
View
- A short-term sell-off showed bitcoin’s temporary support lay at around $3,675 with a small bullish bounce triggered from that zone.
- Bitcoin was rejected from around $4,200 on Dec. 24/25, signalling bullish exhaustion.
- A drop below $3,650 would dash short/mid-term bullish hopes heading into the new year.
Disclosure: The author holds no cryptocurrency assets at the time of writing.
Bitcoin image via Shutterstock; charts by Trading View
More For You
KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.
What to know:
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
More For You
XRP's 9% surge leads crypto as bitcoin climbs to 6-week high near $95,000
Bakkt, Figure and Hut 8 were among numerous crypto-related stocks posting double-digit percentage gains.
What to know:
- Bitcoin jumped more than 3% on Monday to its highest level since mid-November, nearing the key $95,000 mark.
- XRP led the crypto rally with a 9% gain after breaking resistance on strong volume.
- It's a good start to 2026, but bitcoin isn't out of the woods yet, said one analyst.
Top Stories
