Bitcoin Market Update: BTC/USD is on the verge of a massive rally, on-chain data implies

• Bitcoin's network activity hit the highest level since the beginning of 2018.
• The short-term picture has barely changed since the end of the previous week.

Bitcoin's address activity has reached 1.07 million, which is the highest level since January 2018, according to the cryptocurrency data provider Santimnet. The experts point out that if the history repeats, BTC may be on the verge of a massive bull's run as there is a clear correlation between the network activity and the price momentum. On July, 2 another cryptocurrency data provider Glassnode reported that the number of new addresses hit the two-year high of 22,391 based on its one-day moving average, which is another bullish signal.

However, the positive factors have had little influence on the price so far. BTC/USD is changing hands at $9,120, down 1.3% in the recent 24 hours and mostly unchanged since the beginning of the day. The first digital asset has been oscillating in a tight range with the mild bearish bias for over the week now and even large Bitcoin options expiry at the end of June failed to produce any meaningful effect,

BTC/USD: Technical picture

On the intraday chart, BTC/USD has recovered from Thursday's low of $8,940; however, the upside momentum is capped by a combination of 1-hour SMA100 and SMA200 on approach to $9,150. Once this local resistance area is cleared, the recovery may be extended towards $9,200 reinforced by the upper line of the 1-hour Bollinger Band. The next resistance comes at the highest level of the week at $9,298.

On the downside, a sustainable move below $8,940 will increase the selling pressure and push the price towards a critical $8,700 (weekly SMA50). This barrier should slow down the bears and attract new buyers to the market.

BTC/USD 1-hour chart