Bitcoin Remains Range-Bound, Despite Bullish Sentiment

Early Wednesday trading in U.S. markets underscored increasing stability for bitcoin at $30,000. Meanwhile, derivatives markets signaled bullishness, despite BTC’s stoutness.

Bitcoin traded flat on Wednesday, marking the 12th consecutive day of range-bound trading. Since the 22% price increase between June 15 and June 23, BTC prices have traded down 1.3%.

Trading volume spiked during Wednesday’s 9 a.m. (ET) hour, as U.S.-based markets opened. The rise coincides with a prior-hour decline to $30,349, along with its Relative Strength Index (RSI) falling below 30 on its hourly chart – indicating that BTC was oversold in the lower time frame.

Short-term intraday traders likely saw the decline as an opportunity to get long BTC at an opportune valuation. Investors looking to hold bitcoin for longer than one day would be more likely to view BTC’s RSI on a daily chart, where it sits at 62.

The RSI is a commonly used technical indicator ranging from 0-100, with levels above 70 implying that an asset is overvalued, and levels below 30 implying that it is undervalued. Applying the indicator on varying time frames can hint at the sentiment of traders with different time horizons or investing styles.

Derivatives markets signal bullishness

While spot BTC prices have moderated, investors looking for exposure via derivatives markets appear to be betting on higher prices.

Futures open interest for bitcoin is now north of $12 billion, up from $10.4 billion at the beginning of June. Open interest had reached as high as $13.4 billion on June 29, according to On-Chain Analytics firm Glassnode.

Futures volume has been choppy, not indicating a trend in either direction. Still, its most recent reading of $19 billion doesn’t indicate a sharp decline in activity.

Rising open interest along with rising prices can often signal investor bullishness.

Bitcoin funding rates have been positive for 29 consecutive days, and for all but one day since May 11.

Funding rates represent periodic payments between traders with long or short positions in futures markets. Positive funding rates indicate that long position traders are willing to pay a funding rate to short position traders, an indication of bullish sentiment

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