Bitcoin’s (BTC) recent drop to 14-month lows has left the cryptocurrency on track for its biggest yearly price drop on record.
The cryptocurrency was changing hands at $6,300 three weeks ago, representing a 54 percent year-to-date drop, according to CoinDesk’s Bitcoin Price Index (BPI).
The dominant market narrative back then was that BTC would trim losses in the last few weeks of 2018, having bottomed out around $6,000 in five months to October.
BTC, however, nosedived below the crucial 21-month exponential moving average (EMA) support on Nov. 14, signaling a resumption of the sell-off from the record high of $20,000 reached last December. As a result, prices dropped to 14-month lows below $3,500 on Nov. 25 before regaining some poise
Notably, with bears in control, a significant recovery from the current price of $3,800 is unlikely to happen before Dec. 31. So, BTC looks set to snap its three-year winning streak with a 73 percent annual price drop – its biggest on record.
As seen above, BTC suffered a 57 percent drop in 2014. So, this year’s loss would be the biggest on record as long as prices are holding below $5,959.
Meanwhile, technical charts indicate the cryptocurrency may extend the annual loss before the year-end.
Weekly chart
As seen above (Bitstamp prices), BTC has found acceptance below the 200-week EMA. That only bolsters the already bearish technical setup represented by the descending channel breakdown.
4-hour chart
BTC has suffered a symmetrical triangle breakdown on the 4-hour chart. That bearish continuation pattern indicates the corrective bounce has ended at the Nov. 29 high of $4,400 and the bears have likely regained control.
The stacking order of the 50-candle EMA, below the 100-candle EMA, below the 200-candle EMA is also a classic bear indicator.
Therefore, BTC risks re-testing the recent low of $3.474 in the next few days.
View
- Bitcoin is on track to post its biggest yearly price drop on record. That would change only if prices rise above $6,107.
- The symmetrical triangle breakdown seen in the 4-hour chart favors a drop to $3,474 (Nov. 25 low). Acceptance below that level would further strengthen the bear grip and open up downside toward the psychological support of $3,000.
- A short-term bullish reversal would be confirmed only above $4,400 (Nov. 29 high).
Disclosure: The author holds no cryptocurrency assets at the time of writing.
Bitcoin image via CoinDesk Archives; price charts by Trading View
