After facing extreme volatility over the past several days and weeks, Bitcoin (BTC) has found itself caught within a relatively tight trading range within the mid-$9,000 region, and where it goes from here could determine which direction it trends in the mid-term. Analysts are now noting that Bitcoin is currently sitting between two key levels, with resistance directly above its current price and support directly below it, and investors may soon gain greater insight into the long-term significance of its recent rally as it breaks above or below one of these levels.

Bitcoin Consolidates Following Meteoric Movement

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading up marginally at its of $9,370, which marks a slight drop from its daily highs of just below $9,500 and a slight climb from its daily lows of $9,250.

This relatively tight trading range has come about shortly after BTC surged from lows of $7,300 to highs of over $10,500, and analysts are generally noting that it must hold above the lower-$9,000 region in the near-term in order for its uptrend to extend further. Big Chonis, a popular cryptocurrency analyst on Twitter, spoke about the importance of BTC holding above $9,000 in a recent tweet, explaining that a break below this level would also mark a break below its 200-day moving average.

“$BTC – chop chop chop #bitcoin with about a $1000 range and continued rejecting of the MA100 on the daily chart as follow up volume declined significantly, still way above EMA’s on higher time frames, lower ones being currently tested… Holding above $9k ideal for MA200 support,” he explained.

See more

– chop chop chop with about a $1000 range and continued rejecting of the MA100 on the daily chart as follow up volume declined significantly, still way above EMA’s on higher time frames, lower ones being currently tested… Holding above $9k ideal for MA200 support — BIG Chonis (@BigChonis)

Analyst: Break Below $9,300 Would Fuel BTC’s Bears

While echoing Big Chonis’ sentiment, Cred – another popular cryptocurrency analyst on Twitter – explained in a tweet that BTC’s bears must hold the cryptocurrency above $9,300 in the near-term, as a daily close below this level could cause the crypto to cut deeper into its recent gains.

“$BTC: Daily closed worse than it looked during my update. It’s still in an area of support, but given the ambiguous weekly chart and failure to close above $9300, I’m flat for now. If bulls have any bollocks then the dotted line ($9500s) is the level to break for continuation<” he said while pointing to the chart seen below.

See more

Daily closed worse than it looked during my update. It's still in an area of support, but given the ambiguous weekly chart and failure to close above $9300, I'm flat for now. If bulls have any bollocks then the dotted line ($9500s) is the level to break for continuation. — Cred (@CryptoCred)

The coming several hours will likely illuminate BTC’s near-term trend, as how it reacts to the two aforementioned levels will provide critical insight into which direction that markets are heading next.

Featured image from Shutterstock.