Bulls and bears battle for momentum as Bitcoin aims to reclaim key $20,000 level

In early U.S. trading on Tuesday, October 18, Bitcoin (BTC) is trading marginally higher, but the choppy, sideways trend persists for the flagship cryptocurrency.

Meanwhile, the bulls and bears continue their struggle for dominance, with neither side having a clear advantage. This would indicate that we should expect more of the same in the near future, although analysts have suggested a breakout to the upside could be on the cards.

Currently, BTC is trading at $19,620, up 0.73% in the last 24 hours and a further 1.92% across the previous seven days, according to data retrieved by Finbold from CoinMarketCap.

As things stand, Bitcoin has a total market worth of $375 billion as it looks to reclaim the crucial $20,000 psychological level as support. Technical analysis (TA) indicators of Bitcoin on the daily time frame show that the price is marginally above the declining trend line, which could be impactful if bulls can hold support above $19,600 and sustain a push to $20,000.

Crypto trading expert opinions

Meanwhile, crypto trading expert Michaël van de Poppe shared his thoughts that Bitcoin was “still waiting for this breakout,” as he was looking at longs around $19,300 or a flip of $19,600 while the digital asset consolidates. Van de Poppe also anticipates a “rally towards $22K coming period.”

The analyst also noted that the correction opens the door for ‘buy the dip‘ opportunities.

“Correction taking place, which means that the buy the dip region is getting into shape across markets. Still within the range for Bitcoin, but this slight correction gives opportunities.”

Elsewhere, leading crypto expert Ali Martinez observed “a lack of institutional BTC players’ and BTC whales’ activity.” He noted that this lack of interest was evidenced in the fact that “the daily number of Bitcoin transactions with a value greater than $100,000 continues to trend lower.”