Bitcoin eyes $28k as investors monitor debt-ceiling votes

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(Kitco News) – The broader cryptocurrency market consolidated on Tuesday following the brief breakout of Bitcoin above $28,400 over the holiday weekend, with investors now focused on whether or not the debt-ceiling deal reached in the U.S. can make it through a divided Congress before funds dry up.

Stocks traded mixed, with a strong performance in the tech sector helping to boost the Nasdaq while both the S&P and Dow struggled under the weight of debt ceiling uncertainty, with Congress set to vote on the proposed deal on Wednesday. At the close of markets, the Nasdaq finished in the green, up 0.32%, while the S&P finished flat and Dow finished in the red, down 0.15%.

Bitcoin traded in a narrow range on Tuesday, with a slight upward trend. Data provided by TradingView showed that Bitcoin briefly hit a high of $28,100 in the morning hours, before dipping to $27,615 in the afternoon and then climbing back above $27,800.

BTC/USD Chart by TradingView

The strong showing by Bitcoin over the holiday weekend helped push June Bitcoin futures to a three-week high in early trading on Monday, according to Kitco senior technical analyst Jim Wyckoff.

Bitcoin futures 1-day chart. Source: Kitco

“A price downtrend on the daily bar chart has been negated and the bulls have momentum and have gained the slight overall near-term technical advantage,” Wyckoff said.

According to the latest Trade Letter from Gunter Lackmann at MN Trading, following the breakout to $28,400 on Sunday, Bitcoin needs to hold above $27,000 during the week if it hopes to continue its positive momentum.

BTC/USD 1-day chart. Source: MN Trading

“A drop under 27.5k back into the consolidation range would negate the potential end of the ABC correction, and a new low towards 25k could follow,’ Lackmann said. “News wise all this would take is a “surprise” twist regarding the deal or light regulatory fud [fear, uncertainty and doubt] towards crypto this week.”

MN Trading CEO Michaël van de Poppe posted the following tweet outlining this scenario and highlighting the importance of Bitcoin holding the $27,200 – 27,400 support level.

#Bitcoin is looking at continuation here.

What’s the ultimate level to hold?

It’s the $27.2k-27.4k level.

If that holds, continuation to $30K. pic.twitter.com/GHCOA30hLN

— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) May 30, 2023

While nothing is certain when it comes to trading cryptocurrencies, market analyst Moustache noted that the Bitcoin 20-day and 200-day moving averages are about to make their first golden cross in history, which is a signal that “It’s time to put the dark times behind us.”

#Bitcoin $BTC is about to make the first golden cross of the MA20/200.

This has NEVER happened before.🎯

At the same time, both bands are serving as support right now.

The death cross in Sep. 2022 happened just before the FTX-Crash.

It’s time to put the dark times behind us pic.twitter.com/hxJ3nVZblP

— 𝕄𝕠𝕦𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕔ⓗ𝕖 🧲 (@el_crypto_prof) May 30, 2023

Select altcoins surge higher

The altcoin market was evenly split between winners and losers on Tuesday, but the gains outweighed the losses as a total of six tokens saw their prices increase by more than 35%.

Daily cryptocurrency market performance. Source: Coin360

The double-digit gainers include Global Currency Reserve (GCR), Everscale (EVER), Cannation (CNNC), Escroco Emerald (ESCE), ARAW (ARAW) and Linear Finance (LINA), which recorded price increases of 69.2%, 59.3%, 46.5%. 45.4%, 41.7%, and 35.55%, respectively.

The overall cryptocurrency market cap now stands at $1.16 trillion, and Bitcoin’s dominance rate is 46.4%.