Bitcoin stalls below local resistance, leaving crypto longs on edge – Why?

Bitcoin’s [BTC] price has been consolidating around the $90k-zone lately. According to AMBCrypto, this price action had the makings of a bottom when zoomed out. In fact, a $3k price wick downwards on 06 January resulted in roughly $440 million in liquidations, most of them being long.

Source: CoinGlass

CoinGlass data showed that at press time, the last 24 hours of trading saw $218.19 million in liquidations across the market. Crypto longs accounted for $140.60 million of them.

Source: CryptoQuant

In the last 24 hours, Bitcoin has oscillated between the $89.3k and $91k-levels. Its recent retest of the $94.5k resistance gave bulls hope of a breakout. Alas, this has not yet materialized. This would explain the higher amount of long liquidations since 05 January.

What is in store for crypto longs next?

The altcoin market has shown strength against BTC so far in January – Encouraging in the short term. In a post on X, crypto analyst Maartuun observed that the most recent price bounce from $89.3k was supported by sizeable capital inflows.

The positive spot CVD should not fool swing traders and investors must not immediately switch to a long-term bullish bias.

Source: CoinGlass

The Open Interest grew from a low of $54.62 billion to a high of $62.14 billion in January. This growth stalled over the last 24 hours as BTC was unable to climb past the $92k-mark.

At the same time, Bitcoin Spot ETFs saw large outflows over the last three days. At press time, Farside Investors’ data showed $1.128 billion in outflows since 06 January.

Exploring key Bitcoin resistance levels overhead

Source: BTC/USDT on TradingView

Finally, the 4-hour chart showed that the $80.6k and $107.5k levels were the swing points of the price drop in November. The sideways price action in December set the $94.5k-level as a local supply zone – A level that has not yet been breached.

Crypto traders looking to go long can be more confident in a bullish outcome if the $94.5k-resistance is overcome. The local support zones at $90k and $88k (cyan) could also offer short-term Bitcoin buying opportunities.

Final Thoughts

• Bitcoin’s recent price action has primarily hunted down long positions as traders turned bullish following Bitcoin’s move above $90k.
• Long-term bulls should keep an eye on macroeconomic conditions and demand for Bitcoin.