Bitcoin Price Already Up 25% in 2020 After Hitting $9,000

Bitcoin (BTC) hit $9,000 on Jan. 17 as technical metrics continued to break both local and all-time records.  Data from Coin360 and Cointelegraph Markets showed BTC/USD finally rising to the significant $9,000 boundary on Friday, following a bullish run-up overnight.

At press time, a slight retracement had sent the pair slightly lower to $8,900, with 24-hour returns still at 3% and weekly performance stronger at almost 16%. Bitcoin holders are currently sitting on monthly gains totaling almost 35%.

Now, however, attention is turning to shorter time frames. For regular Cointelegraph contributor filbfilb, despite Bitcoin’s bullish overall movements, the next close would be crucial in determining short-term trajectory.  Specifically, if BTC/USD were to close below the bullish candle, which took it to current highs, the chance of a bearish reversal would be on the table. The price under such circumstances would then paint a so-called swing failure pattern, or SFP, which in turn may keep the pair lower.

Regardless, Bitcoin was exhibiting multiple trends to excite analysts as the week drew to a close.  Hash rate, a measure of the computing power dedicated to validating the Bitcoin blockchain, hit a new all-time high on Thursday. While figures vary, monitoring resource Coin Dance put Bitcoin’s hash rate at 149 quintillion hashes per second.