Over the past week, Bitcoin has found itself flatlining, establishing a tight range in the low-$7,000s as volume tapers off. This consolidation has forced the Bollinger Bands, a moving average-based technical analysis tool often used by traders looking for more information about trading ranges and volatility, for Bitcoin to reach extremely tight levels, implying that volatility is on the horizon.
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Per previous reports from NewsBTC, John Bollinger, the creator of the tool, has even gone as far as to say that it’s “time to pay attention” to cryptocurrencies, as the Bands imply that they’re nearing “squeeze levels.”
Josh Olszewicz, an analyst at industry research and media site Brave New Coin, recently noted that the last time the one-day Bollinger Bands on the Bitcoin chart were this tight, the eventual resolution of all moves always resulted in 20%+ price swings. Case in point, BTC saw a 30% gain to tap $10,000 at the end of October, which is the last time that the Bollinger Bands exhibited such consolidatory behavior.
1D $BTC @bbands only this tight a few times over the past year
currently w/bearish forecast
price > 7300 would be above 20SMA which would flip sentiment bull
eventual resolution of all moves of this caliber have resulted in initial 20%+ price swing pic.twitter.com/VorbN1XpjJ
— #333kByJuly2025 (@CarpeNoctom) December 14, 2019
But in which direction will the BTC price head this time?
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Outlook Bearish for Bitcoin
Unfortunately for bulls, analysts are currently charting that bears remain in control of the cryptocurrency market.
On Nov. 14, popular cryptocurrency trader “Salsa” remarked that Bitcoin’s one-day chart “doesn’t look pretty,” drawing attention to the fact that BTC has turned the $7,300 support into resistance, a support-resistance flip that implies bears remain well in control.
Another analyst has echoed this, recently posting the chart below via Twitter to illustrate that bulls are in no position to gain an advantage over bears. On-balance Volume, an indicator meant to relate price to volumes, has formed a bearish pennant on the six-hour BTC chart, implying bearish price action is forming, while the Accumulation/Distribution indicator largely implies that distribution is taking place.
Update on A/D and OBV, volume-based indicators. $BTC #bitcoin Bears dominating volume. pic.twitter.com/bOuZXe0FLE
— Fizeek$ (@FizeekMoney) December 14, 2019
There’s also Cold Blooded Shiller, a Wyckoff and Renko candle-centric trader which last week said that Bitcoin is in no man’s land, and thus not close to a bottom.
“From a volume perspective, there is nothing to me that screams “THIS IS THE BOTTOM.” For both markdowns and markups we typically expect to see “climactic” volume,” Shiller wrote, trying to accentuate that there are no concrete signs the bottom is in for the Bitcoin market.
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