Bitcoin bulls were surprised to wake up to a massive early-morning drop that sent the cryptocurrency reeling down to lows of $9,700, which is where BTC was able to find some support that helped it climb higher. It is important to note that this bearish price action may have invalidated the crypto’s midterm uptrend, due to it breaking below a key ascending trendline that had been formed over the past few weeks. The break below this level could lead BTC to see a notable near-term decline, with analysts widely targeting a pullback towards the lower-$9,000 region.

Bitcoin Plummets to $9,700 in Early-Morning Sell-Off as Analysts Target Further Losses

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading down over 3% at its of $9,930, which marks a notable decline from its daily highs of nearly $10,400.

Throughout yesterday, BTC had been caught within a firm bout of sideways trading around $10,300, which appeared to have marked a consolidation phase in a relatively tight trading range between $10,100 and $10,400. The break below $10,000 came about in an incredibly sharp movement that happened over the span of five minutes, signaling that bears have now garnered some significant near-term strength. Big Cheds, a popular crypto analyst, said in a recent tweet that he believes Bitcoin will continue dropping until it reached $9,600, which is where he anticipates it will find enough buying pressure to bounce.

“Bitcoin – $9600 then bounce IMO,” he concisely noted.

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$9600 then bounce IMO — Cheds (Trading Quotes) (@BigCheds)

If Bitcoin is able to bounce at this level, it is imperative that bulls recapture $10,000 due to its technical and psychological importance, as a failure to climb above this level could spell trouble for what comes next.

BTC May Have Just Invalidated Its Mid-Term Uptrend 

This recent breakdown also marked a movement below an ascending support line that had been bolstering the cryptocurrency, with the drop below this level signaling that its mid-term uptrend could be kaput.

Josh Rager, another prominent cryptocurrency analyst, explained in a recent tweet that Bitcoin could drop as low as $9,300 in the near-term, with a failure to recapture $10,165 spelling trouble for what comes next.

“BTC Nice break down of the range. Shared this week if $10,150 broke down, my target would be at $9700 with a potential bounce there before continuing to $9300. Price needs to reclaim above $10,165+ again. Until then bias is changed to short term downtrend,” he said while pointing to the below chart.

//twitter.com/Josh_Rager/status/95843073

The coming few days should offer insight into the state of the entire market, as a mid-term Bitcoin downtrend could lead many major altcoins to also see some notable losses, potentially invalidating their recent bullishness.

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