Bitcoin shrugs off BlockFi, China protests as BTC price holds $16K

Bitcoin (BTC) held crucial $16,000 support into Nov. 29 as bulls weathered ongoing FTX fallout and macro triggers.

BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView

Trader teases BTC long as $16,500 reappears

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView confirmed BTC/USD leaving lower levels untouched overnight.

The pair had seen a flash downturn after the Nov. 27 weekly close thanks to uncertainty from China over COVID-19 measures.

A recovery nonetheless took the market higher, with $16,500 coming into play at the time of writing.

As Cointelegraph reported, traders and analysts had warned that it was all but essential to preserve current support, with a violation opening up the road to $14,000 or lower.

Popular trader Crypto Tony even felt comfortable going long BTC on the day.

โ€œFlipping the EQ would be a safer long entry, but keeping this open with a tight stop loss is the best way for me,โ€ he revealed to Twitter followers.

An accompanying chart identified support and resistance zones in play on midrange timeframes.

BTC/USD annotated chart. Source: Crypto Tony/ Twitter

Even fresh repercussions over the FTX debacle failed to dent Bitcoinโ€™s performance. Meanwhile, these came in the form of a bankruptcy filing and lawsuit from crypto lender BlockFi.

The latest in a chain reaction sparked by FTX going under, the news came alongside a surprise resumption of salary payments by the defunct exchange.

โ€œMakes sense after this bounce, as we’ve created a HL on Bitcoin and aiming at resistance again,โ€ Michaรซl van de Poppe, founder and CEO of trading firm Eight, continued about a higher low (HL) on the 4-hour chart:

โ€œTaking out the range between $16.5-16.8K would trigger continuation towards $18K.โ€

BTC/USD annotated chart. Source: Michaรซl van de Poppe/ Twitter

China woes cool ahead of Fed Powell speech

China meanwhile formed the main macro focus on the day, with anti-lockdown protestsโ€™ impact on market sentiment nonetheless seeming to ease.

Related:ย New BTC miner capitulation? 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week

Asian markets bounced back strongly, with Hong Kongโ€™s Hang Seng up 5.2% at the time of writing and the Shanghai Composite Index gaining 2.3%.

Hang Seng Index (HSI) 1-hour candle chart. Source: TradingView

โ€œWe do not expect China policy to publicly shift away from the Zero Covid stance, however, we could see some easing of the policy privately and in localized areas,โ€ Mohit Kumar, an analyst at investment banking firm Jefferies, wrote in a note quoted by Bloomberg.

Nov. 30 looked set to be the key trading day of the week, with Bitcoinโ€™s monthly close accompanied by a speech from Jerome Powell, Chair of the United States Federal Reserve.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the authorsโ€™ alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.