Brisk gains meet resistance at $42,000, but stock markets may be to blame.
Bitcoin (BTC) bulls remained strong on April 20 as the Wall Street open saw a return to the $42,000 level.
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed the BTC/USD pair hitting $42,220 on Bitstamp, its highest level since April 11.
After adding as much as 9.3% against local lows on April 18, the pair was now lined up for “interesting” behavior, according to Cointelegraph contributor Michaël van de Poppe.
The $42,000 Level Proves Troublesome
“Things get interesting at the $42,000 level,” he told his Twitter followers.
Like others on the day, Van de Poppe highlighted the decline in US dollar strength as a boon to BTC price performance.
However, the volatility was very noticeable on the return to the significant $42,000 level, as others expressed a lack of faith in Bitcoin’s continued gains.
For popular trader Josh Rager, nevertheless, the April 18 crash to $38,600 and subsequent rally was a pattern to watch.
“The last couple of moves led to over 30% uptrends,” he noted on April 19.
“Yesterday caught a lot of people off guard, although it wasn’t as deep a pullback like the last one. You could still see Bitcoin go up here over the next week, take it day by day,” Rager added.
US Stocks Fail to Impress after Earnings
On the macro side, fluctuations in the stock came under fire from Rager, who argued that changes in sentiment were hampering performance.
Unusual moves in Netflix shares became a talking point the day after the profit loss sparked a sell-off.
However, according to the Fear & Greed Index Sentiment Gauge, the mood was better overall on April 20, with the index hitting its highest April score yet: 50/100.
The Crypto Fear & Greed Index, by contrast, languished in the “fear” zone at 27/100.
By Audy Castaneda
