What Next For Bitcoin Prices As They Struggle Close To $40,000?

Bitcoin prices have suffered some weakness lately, falling below $40,000 this afternoon and trading close to that level since then.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency by market value first declined below $40,000 around 3:15 p.m. EDT, CoinDesk data shows.

The digital currency quickly bounced back, rising above $40,000 and surpassing $40,200 near 4:30 p.m. EDT, additional CoinDesk figures reveal.

Following this short-lived recovery, bitcoin gave up all the gains it had made, declining to an intra-day low of $39,253.69 at roughly 6:15 p.m. EDT.

At the time of this writing, the digital asset had recovered slightly, trading below $39,800.

[Ed note: Investing in cryptocoins or tokens is highly speculative and the market is largely unregulated. Anyone considering it should be prepared to lose their entire investment.]

Following these latest price movements, several experts offered their perspective on what the cryptocurrency might do next.

Some of them provided technical analysis, emphasizing key levels of support and resistance that traders should keep in mind.

Collin Plume, CEO and founder of My Digital Money, offered this kind of input.

“For a while, $40K was a major resistance level. When the price of Bitcoin hit $47K, it was natural for investors to want to cash out to make some gains, especially those who bought in during the dip.”

He emphasized that while “It will bounce around the $40K level,” the $42,000 level is the one to watch.

“It will make several attempts to break $50K, and it will fail many times, but once it crosses $50K, it will pull back again before it jogs to $60k,” he predicted.

Plume stated that if bitcoin pushes lower, it has “Support levels at $37k-$40k.”

William Noble, the chief technical analyst of research platform Token Metrics, also weighed in, offering a similar point of view.

Bitcoin has key support levels at $39,000 and after that, $36,000, he stated.

Going forward, he made some predictions that could prove beneficial for the digital currency.

“Bitcoin will likely become the dominant cryptocurrency between now and August,” he stated.

“If interest rates continue to rise, altcoins may drop faster than bitcoin,” said Noble.

“A measure like bitcoin dominance has bottomed. BTC dominance could go from its low near 41% to 47%.”

“A move like this would be in line with the idea that bitcoin is going to be the only logical crypto to own as equities and bonds drop.”

Plume offered a different outlook that was more focused on the short term.

“With taxes due in the next few days and the IRS having issues with new forms and legislation, many investors are in a holding pattern,” he stated.

“Many bitcoin holders and consistent buyers are waiting to see where they are going to shake out for last year. Once they know prices will jump again.”

Disclosure: I own some bitcoin, bitcoin cash, litecoin, ether, EOS and sol.