British pound

Fiat currency moves increasingly give BTC a run for its money as the largest cryptocurrency stays almost motionless.

Bitcoin (BTC) showed no signs of a breakout on Oct. 20 as tantalizing sideways action dragged on.

Analyst: Bitcoin range "congested and critical"

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD firmly rangebound at around $19,000 overnight, moving only around $400 up or down.

United States equities opened with no significant volatility, this focused more on the United Kingdom, where the pound reacted to news that Liz Truss had resigned as Prime Minister.

Chart data circulating on social media at the time of writing showed that GBP and BTC volatility had become practically identical, the latter already in its least volatile period since 2020.

With macro triggers failing to have an impact, analysts flagged solid support and resistance levels keeping price action in check.

“Bitcoin continues to trade in a congested and critical range,” Keith Alan, founder of analytics resource Material Indicators, summarized on the day.

Alan highlighted two key moving averages (MAs) closing in on each other and acting as resistance boundaries to the trading range.

“The 21-Day MA has confluence with resistance at the trend line from the ATH and the 50-Day MA has confluence with resistance at the 2017 Top,” he explained.

Exchange data hints at strength of breakdown

Continuing investigation of the current trading range, Filbfilb, co-founder of trading suite Decentrader, had some lackluster news for bulls.

Related: Capitulation or profit-taking? Bitcoin whale moves 32K BTC dormant since 2018

Analysis of liquidation data on major exchange Bitfinex yielded a conclusion that an upside breakout from the range would "not have the momentum that a downside break would achieve."

The danger of a serious support loss thus remained a firm possibility based on trader activity.

Alongside a chart of liquidations, Filbfilb summarized that "a break above the range will likely be less brutal than one to the down."

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