Bitcoin could ‘consolidate until 2022’ after mass wipeout sends BTC price to $41K

Bitcoin (BTC) traded near $47,000 on Dec. 4 after a sudden crash confirmed bulls’ worst nightmares with 22% daily losses.

Crypto liquidations pass $2.5 billion

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD hitting local lows of $41,960 on Bitstamp — its lowest since Sep. 30.

As panic set in, leveraged positions unwound and traders capitulated, 24-hour cross-crypto liquidations passing $2.5 billion.

“$50k is likely to be resistance for a decent amount of time now unless stonks to incredible things,” filbfilb, co-founder of trading platform Decentrader, summarized in a fresh synopsis after the move.

“Size of dump & distribution likely to mean consolidation into Q1 next year. Moon mission is not dead but some will think cycle over.”

The scale of the dip wiped out some important support levels, including Bitcoin’s $1 trillion asset valuation — previously a popular choice for long bets.

As Cointelegraph reported, concern over traders’ behavior was present as recently as Friday, as data showed that the market could easily be overleveraged at previous levels nearer $60,000.

With that leverage now all but flushed out, optimism among familiar faces remained, with Cointelegraph contributor Michaël van de Poppe announcing the sub-$42,000 spike as a “bottom.”

“We’re still in a bull market,” he added.

Bitcoin meanwhile just avoided an attack on $40,000 support, something which would be a reason to “flip bearish” should it form weekly resistance, analyst TechDev said.

“Wait. Relax. Market will reveal,” he told Twitter followers.

“If cycle bull phase deviates substantially from history, expect any bear phase to do the same.”

Close week below 20W SMA (50.8) ➡️ ConcerningMacro LL on a weekly close (40K) ➡️ Flip bearishLose the 2W RSI Floor ➡️ Flip bearish

Wait. Relax. Market will reveal.

If cycle bull phase deviates substantially from history, expect any bear phase to do the same. https://t.co/6smUaIWlKY

— TechDev (@TechDev_52) December 4, 2021

Ethereum preserves strength on BTC pair

A small silver lining came from Ether (ETH) on the day, which neared a rematch of its highest levels since mid 2018. 

Related: Ethereum ‘about to go parabolic’ against Bitcoin as analysts weigh BTC bear case

Losing less than Bitcoin in the crash versus the dollar, ETH/BTC bucked the trend to pass 0.0831.

All of the top ten cryptocurrencies by market cap were down over 10% against the U.S. dollar, however, led by Polkadot (DOT) with 21%.