Bitcoin Remains Stuck Below $96,000: Why Is It Not Moving?

Bitcoin's BTC/USD sideways movement over the past week has prompted analysts to look at macroeconomic influences and historical patterns for indicators of the next move.

Cryptocurrency	Price	Market Cap	24-Hour Trend	7-Day Trend
Bitcoin BTC/USD	$95,712.56	$1.89 trillion	-0.5%	-0.5%
Ethereum ETH/USD	$2,687.27	$324 billion	-4%	-2.1%
XRP XRP/USD	$2.47	$143.5 billion	-3.7%	-7.4%

Trader Notes: In a podcast from Feb. 21, Cowen noted that Bitcoin is stuck in a broadening wedge, waiting for a strong catalyst. He notes a lag effect between Bitcoin and global money supply, which could explain the lack of major movement.

Regarding altcoins, Cowen remains skeptical of an upcoming “alt season”, citing Bitcoin's continued dominance and macroeconomic factors like inflation and interest rates as key market drivers.

He suggested that Bitcoin’s next major move could come after upcoming macroeconomic data releases.

Meanwhile, trader CrypNuevo, in an X thread on Monday, sees a solid trading opportunity this week, predicting range-bound price action.

He's watching $94,700 as a potential bounce zone, with $92,500 as the next key level if BTC moves lower.

Statistics: IntoTheBlock data shows Bitcoin's large transaction volume and daily active addresses are down by 28.3% and 19.9%, respectively. Meanwhile, transactions greater than $100,000 declined from 7,980 to 6,703 in a single day. Despite volatility and relatively flat performance, 90% Bitcoin holders are currently in profit and only 6% underwater.

Coinglass data shows 127,516 traders were liquidated in the past 24 hours for $268.66 million. Bitcoin liquidations in the past 24 hours stand at $29.7 million, compared to the last peak of around $372 million on Feb. 3 when prices touched $101,293.

What's Next: With a quiet economic calendar this week, traders are watching for technical breakouts. The lack of macro events could allow Bitcoin to move based on market structure alone.

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