Bitcoin and Ethereum prepare for major price movement

Bitcoin kicked off Thursday, September 17th, on the wrong foot. Following the 1.61% bullish impulse seen during the previous trading session, investors seem to have enjoyed the upward price action to realize some profits. As a result, the increase in selling pressure behind BTC was visible throughout the first half of the day. 

The pioneer cryptocurrency opened at a high of $10,957.06 and immediately began trending downwards. By 13:00 UTC, prices had dropped more than 2% to an intraday low of $10,745.55. Such a critical support level was able to hold, containing falling prices at bay. 

The rejection from this hurdle allowed Bitcoin to rebound and recover nearly all the losses incurred throughout the first half of Thursday’s trading session. BTC was able to make a high of $10,932.55, just a few dollars below the opening prices. While there are a few hours ahead of before the daily candlestick closes, there is a probability that prices will continue to fall. 

On the daily chart, the Tom Demark (TD) Sequential indicator is printing a sell signal in the form of a green nine candlestick. The bearish formation estimates a one to four daily candlesticks correction before the uptrend resumes. If validated, Bitcoin could drop to close the CME gap that sits around $9,600. It is worth noting that turning the $11,100 resistance into support could jeopardize the bearish outlook. Under such circumstances, the bellwether cryptocurrency could rise towards $12,000 or higher. 

Ethereum Resumes Uptrend, Aiming for $400

The news about the latest project joining the DeFi craze, Uniswap, combined with the Ethereum Foundation’s progress to launch ETH 2.0 seems to have made a huge impact on the smart contracts giant. Indeed, Ether opened Thursday’s, September 17th, trading session, trading at a low of $364.97, and within only one hour it was already up by 5.69%. At 1:00 UTC, prices were hovering at a high of $385.37. 

Despite the upward pressure that Ethereum experienced at the beginning of the day, such price action did not spill over the next 17 hours. The second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization entered a consolidation period where it mostly traded between the $378 support and the $384 resistance level. It was not until 18:00 UTC that the bulls were able to regain control of ETH. 

A spike in demand allowed Ether to surge another 3.34%, turning the $384 resistance into support. Ethereum made an intraday high of $394, outperforming Bitcoin and the rest of the crypto market. Although Thursday’s trading session has yet to close, it seems like the smart contracts giant has more room to go up. The most significant area of resistance ahead of this altcoin sits between $420 and $440. 

Key Price Areas to Watch 

When looking at the top two cryptocurrencies by market cap from a high time frame, both seem to be forming bearish patterns despite the rising prices. Bitcoin’s green nine candlesticks on its daily chart and Ethereum’s bear flag pattern paint a different story to the price action seen on the lower time frames. For this reason, it is imperative to take a precautionary approach when treading these digital assets. 

If Bitcoin closes below $10,600 it would increase the odds for a further downturn towards $9,600. Meanwhile, if Ethereum slices below the $366 support level it would likely drop towards $250. So as long as these cryptocurrencies are able to continue trading above these crucial support levels, the bullish outlook will likely preva

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