Bitcoin Price Prediction: BTC freefalls from $40,000 as critical bearish pattern comes into the picture

Bitcoin hit $40,000 for the first time in history on Thursday. However, the bellwether cryptocurrency did not stay up for long as a bearish wave swept across the market, forcing the prices down to an intraday low of $36,625 on Friday.

Bitcoin bounces back to $38,000, but the uptrend remains in jeopardy

The world’s most valuable cryptocurrency is exchanging hands at $38,340. Volatility is still exceptionally high, making it difficult to predict the asset’s short term price action.

However, the 4-hour chart highlights the formation of a rising wedge pattern. This is an extremely bearish pattern in technical analysis. It is created by connecting an asset’s higher highs using a trendline. On the other hand, its higher lows are also connected to form a wedge.

The pattern suggests that the asset’s trading volume is decreasing, and a reversal is likely in the near-term. A breakdown tends to occur before the trendlines converge. If validated, price action is usually drastic, which calls for alertness to take full advantage of the bearish pattern.

BTC/USD 4-hour chart

If Bitcoin closes the day under $38,000, more sell orders will be triggered. An increase in overhead pressure might force BTC to explore lower price levels towards $34,000 and $30,000, respectively.

The 50 Simple Moving Average is in line to offer support and perhaps prevent losses from extending to $30,000. Similarly, the 100 SMA will absorb some of the selling pressure if BTC/USD slides under this critical level.

On the other hand, the pessimistic outlook will be invalidated if Bitcoin closes the day above $38,000. Some semblance of stability may call for more buy orders as investors push for gains above $40,000. Some analysts like Peter Brandt believe that Bitcoin is not anywhere close to its potential and could clock $50,000 in the short-term.