Bitcoin Market Update: BTC/USD struggles to keep up with altcoins

According to  Google Trends data, the interest in Bitcoin reached the lowest level since December 2019 amid non-existent volatility and low trading activity. The first digital asset broke from the narrow range of the previous week, but the upside momentum is still slow, while infrequent spikes of activity cannot spur the curiosity among the general public. Based on Google’s normalized scale of 1 to 100, the popularity of Bitcoin search query stood at 45 as of July 20, within a striking distance of  41 from the week of December 29.

Bitcoin's dominance index dropped to 61.5% as some altcoins, including Chainlink and Ethereum, have been outperforming the first digital asset. Thus, Chainlink has gained about 7% and came close to $8.00. Ethereum settled above critical technical level amid strong bullish momentum.

BTC/USD: Technical picture

At the time of writing, BTC/USD is changing hands at $9,495 as the bulls struggle to keep the price above $9,500. If this barrier gives way, the sell-off may be extended towards $9,400 with critical support created by 50-day SMA at $9,350. The short-term trend remains bullish as long as BTC/USD stays above this area. Once it is broken, the former channel resistance of $9,200 will come into view. 

BTC/USD daily chart

On the intraday charts, the local support is created by the middle line of the 1-hour Bollinger Band at $9,485. Once it is out of the way, the downside is likely to gain traction with the next focus on the above-mentioned support $9,400 reinforced by 50-hour SMA. This area should attract new speculative buyers and push the price back towards $9,500.

Considering that 1-hour RSI has reversed to the upside, BTC/USD has a potential to return to the area above $9,500 and test the upper line of the 1-hour Bollinger Band on approach to $9,600. Once it is out of the way, the upside is likely to gain traction with the next focus on $9,800 and $10,000.

BTC/USD 1-hour chart