Bitcoin can see $55K breakout if last major BTC price resistance is broken

Bitcoin (BTC) touched $47,000 on Aug. 17 as ranging behavior continued to hint at an attack on major resistance.

BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView

Volatility narrows for Bitcoin

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD attempting to exit the $46,000 range on Tuesday after heading lower as the week began.

The area between $45,000 and $48,000 has acted as a narrow trading corridor for Bitcoin as it attempts to knock down its last hurdle before $50,000. So, far, however, bulls have lacked the momentum to effect major change.

For Cointelegraph contributor Michaël van de Poppe, $48,000 was the level to watch on the day, as a breakout from there could lead to another upwards impulse move.

"If we clearly break through there, that is probably going to trigger a big short squeeze, as everybody's looking for a short in this area," he said in a fresh YouTube update.

"It reminds me of the $6,000 zone that we had with Bitcoin. If Bitcoin is going to break through this level, I think we're going to have a squeeze all the way up to $55,000-$56,000, the next level that we have here."

Fellow trader and analyst Rekt Capital agreed that there was still plenty of fuel left in Bitcoin's uptrend, despite the lack of an impulse move so far.

Though #BTC has failed to retest the top of the previous Ascending Triangle breakout structure...

It is still respecting this structure, finding support at the Higher Low trendline

As long as this trendline holds, the technical uptrend remains intact$BTC #Crypto #Bitcoin https://t.co/6St5oQ86ZR pic.twitter.com/Trp8L52sbT

— Rekt Capital (@rektcapital) August 17, 2021

Solana still headlines altcoin gains

Altcoins meanwhile returned to follow Bitcoin in its ranging behavior, with most of the top fifty cryptocurrencies by market cap seeing flat 24-hour performance.

Related: 3 ways this Bitcoin bull run is different than late 2020

The notable exception was Solana (SOL), which added 14% on the day for weekly gains of nearly 80%.

Ether (ETH) held above $3,200, like Bitcoin staying in a narrower range since volatility earlier in August.