Weekly Bitcoin Price Indicator Shows ‘Bear Cross’ in First Since February

A widely-tracked trend-following bitcoin (BTC) price indicator is flashing a sell signal for the first time since February. The weekly moving average convergence divergence (MACD) histogram, which is used to identify trend reversals and trend strength, has crossed below zero and is currently printing a value of -25.13.

That is the first negative value since the first week of February. Back then, BTC was trading at $3,700. As of now, the leading cryptocurrency by market value is changing hands at $10,340 on Bitstamp, representing 2 percent gains on a 24-hour basis. The histogram crossing below zero is considered a sign of the beginning of a new downtrend, while a move above zero is taken as confirmation of a bearish-to-bullish trend change.

Histogram’s latest drop below the zero lines indicates the rally from lows near $3,700 seen in the first week of February topped out at $13,880 in June and the bears have regained control. Many observers consider MACD histogram as a lagging indicator. After all, it is a spread between two moving averages (MAs), which are based on past data. Also, MACD’s bearish crossovers marked an end of corrective pullbacks during the 2015-2017 bull market, as tweeted earlier today by popular analyst Murad Mahmudov.