BCTUSD refrains from a deeper downside correction, clinging to a familiar range above $22,000 these days
Bitcoin prices have settled in a tightening range this week, slightly off all-time highs registered around $24,300 last Friday. The leading cryptocurrency by market capitalization briefly dipped below the $22,000 handle at the start of the week but managed to bounce quickly and has been clinging to the $23,000 figure since then.
BTCUSD refrains from another rally to fresh tops as the market was hit by the reports that the SEC was planning to file a sweeping lawsuit against Ripple, citing the argument that the company should have been registered with the commission from the beginning more than seven years ago. The regulator claims that the defendants in the case generated more than $1.38 billion from sales of the XRP token. The news pushed the XRP token sharply lower, with value declining around 50% in the past 24 hours. As a result, XRP lost its place as the world’s third-most valuable cryptocurrency, with Tether surpassing it in value yesterday.
Against this backdrop, sentiment in the cryptocurrency market has deteriorated, thus limiting the upside potential in bitcoin. As such, the digital currency number one stays under some selling pressure on Thursday. Still, BCTUSD refrains from a deeper downside correction, clinging to a familiar range above $22,000 these days.
Fundamentally, bitcoin remains an attractive long-term investment, and this helps the prices to stay afloat in turbulent periods lately. On the other hand, it looks like the digital asset needs to see a more pronounced bearish correction in order to attract a fresh wave of buyers and climb to fresh all-time highs.
However, considering long lower wicks on the daily charts, it looks like bitcoin is not ready for a deeper retreat and could stay in a consolidation mode these days before deciding on the further direction.
