Bitcoin bounces at key range amid hope BTC price will avoid 'big nuke'

Bitcoin (BTC) retained a key support area on Friday as bidders stepped in to avert another test of $30,000.

BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView

Bitcoin: “Leg down” vs. “big nuke”

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD bottomed out at local lows of $32,700 overnight.

A subsequent rebound took the pair almost $1,000 higher before settling at around $33,300 at the time of writing.

As Cointelegraph reported on Thursday, this is above the $33,000 zone, which at least one trading source identified as highly significant for bulls to keep intact.

Going into the weekend, the mood is thus not as gloomy as it once was, this being tempered by expectations that a “leg down” could — or even should — still occur.

Popular trader Crypto Ed eyed a potential trip to a local bottom in Bitcoin’s relative strength index (RSI), which would, in turn, produce an oversold price dip followed by a correction.

“When following RSI pattern/trend and that wave pattern, BTC could do 1 more leg down,” he considered.

“I’m not expecting a big nuke.... ‘big nuke’ as in a move to 20k or lower.”

BTC/USD 4-hour and RSI scenario chart. Source: Crypto Ed/Twitter

Since coming off $64,500 all-time highs, Bitcoin has dipped to a maximum of $28,600, with lower lows and a challenge of the 2017 peak of $20,000 so far absent.

Nonetheless, price action remains rangebound, with analyst Rekt Capital seeing a solid downward trend, which nonetheless contains a clear level to reclaim for a breakout.

“BTC is still maintaining this structure and the blue diagonal will still be the trend line to watch for a breakout when the time comes,” he said in comments on an accompanying chart.

Altcoins trend downward

Altcoins, meanwhile, slipped from prior strength, with losses broadly beating Bitcoin’s slight downturn to hit 5% or more.

Ether (ETH), the largest altcoin by market capitalization, traded at $2,060 on the day, down 3% — a story matched by various other major cryptocurrencies.

Ethereum Classic (ETC) came off its publicity boost highs from earlier in the week, while publicity from Elon Musk likewise failed to deliver sustained gains to Dogecoin (DOGE), which was down 4% at the time of writing.