Bitcoin Traders Eyeing $48K BTC Price Before ETF Sell-off

As analysts suggested that a BTC price correction was “necessary,” Bitcoin (BTC) circled around the $44,000 mark at the Dec. 21 Wall Street open.

$48,000 marks BTC price “topside resistance”

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView revealed Bitcoin trading beyond its one-week range.

A breakout happened the day before, with BTC/USD reaching peaks of $44,300 before reversing.

Still up over 6% week-to-date, the largest cryptocurrency gave some market participants pause for thought.

“Although a correction seems necessary, BTC chart looks very strong on all timeframes,” the trading team Stockmoney Lizards stated in their latest update on X (formerly Twitter).

Like many others, Stockmoney Lizards focused their attention on the upcoming decision on the United States’ first Bitcoin spot price exchange-traded fund (ETF) due by Jan. 10.

“It is likely that BTC will continue to pump and break the upper trendline until an ETF decision is made,” they continued, giving a near-term upside target of $48,000.

The announcement itself, even if positive, could be a “buy the rumor, sell the news” event, the analysis warned. In this, Cointelegraph reported, Stockmoney Lizards is not alone.

“As we approach the launch, we need to point out that it is likely that the actual demand for the BTC Spot ETF at the start will fall short of market expectations,” trading firm QCP Capital mentioned in their update on Dec. 21 regarding the update webos 3.0 to 4.0, web 3.0 domains buy, web 3.0 chart, lg webos 3.0 update, web 3.0 definition crypto, web 3.0 data ownership, update webos 3.9 to 4.0, lg tv update webos 2.0 to 3.0, and is metaverse part of web 3.0.

A correction would be “good” for Bitcoin markets

The mid to late $30,000s remains a popular area in terms of where a potential retracement could take the market.

Stockmoney Lizards recently gave an update, suggesting that a drop below $40k could liquidate some leveraged long positions and lead to a retracement towards $38k — though they deemed this scenario “less likely” than others.

Market data showed that traders were poorly positioned even for the latest push above $44,000, as CoinGlass statistics revealed that Dec. 20 liquidated over $100 million in crypto short positions — the most in two weeks. BTC short liquidations totaled $38.5 million.