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Bitcoin Knocks on $70K Level; Bitfinex Hopeful Selling Pressure That Sparked a Correction Is Ending

Bitcoin (BTC) briefly topped $70,000 Monday for the first time in a week before retreating to its familiar trading range, continuing its sideways price action.

The largest crypto by market capitalization recently changed hands at around $69,200, up 2% over the past 24 hours, while Ethereum’s ether (ETH) was little changed slightly below $3,800. The broad-market CoinDesk 20 Index gained 1.6% over the past 24 hours.

Bitcoin and the broader crypto market have spent more than two months consolidating since March, when BTC hit a record price above $73,000.

“This correction phase now appears to be nearing an end,” Bitfinex analysts said in a Monday market update.

According to the report, selling by long-term holders was a key reason for bitcoin’s correction from all-time highs, but blockchain data suggests that these holders have started to re-accumulate BTC for the first time since December 2023.

The number of new bitcoin and ether accumulation addresses has also been growing over the past month, a sign of increasing bullish sentiment despite the price stability, Bitfinex analysts added, citing CryptoQuant data.

New BTC and ETH accumulation addresses rising over the past month (Bitfinex via CryptoQuant)

Crypto analytics firm Swissblock noted that the $70,000 and $73,000 levels pose significant resistance capping BTC’s price. “Short-term pullbacks are being treated as buying opportunities, with the $67,000 level proving to be a reliable support,” Swissblock said in a report.

The next week “could be an interesting one to watch” with key inflation data release and Federal Reserve meeting that could fuel volatility in either direction, Joshua Lim, co-founder of crypto derivatives principal trader Arbelos Markets, told CoinDesk.

Edited by Nick Baker.