Bitcoin Eyes $12K Price Hurdle as Dominance Rate Hits 28-Month High

Bitcoin (BTC) is eyeing a move to key resistance above $12,000, having broken out of a bearish pattern in the Asian trading hours today. The leading cryptocurrency jumped above $11,120 at 00:45 UTC, violating the bearish lower-highs pattern created on July 20 and extended gains to $11,868 at 07:30 UTC. That’s BTC’s highest level since July 12, according to Bitstamp data.

With the price rise, BTC’s dominance rate – the cryptocurrency’s share of the total crypto market – has jumped to 67.9 percent, the highest level since April 12, 2017, according to CoinMarketCap. Many observers consider price gains sustainable if they are backed by an uptick in the dominance rate.

BTC’s move above the bearish lower-high of $11,120 (above left) is backed by a bullish above-50 reading on the relative strength index (RSI). Further, the moving average convergence divergence (MACD) histogram continues to gain altitude, another sign of strengthening bullish momentum.

What’s more, BTC has found acceptance above the 50-day moving average (MA). Also, the 5- and 10-day MAs are trending north, indicating a bullish setup. As a result, a rise to the upper edge of the 1.5-month-long falling channel, currently at $12,030 looks likely. Supporting the bullish case is a pickup in the buying volumes (green bars), as seen on the hourly chart (above right). A high-volume UTC close above $12,030 would confirm the channel breakout and open the doors to a retest of $13,880 (June 26 high).