Bitcoin Higher, Litecoin Little Changed

Bitcoin is trading higher while Litecoin is little changed. This is a repeat of what has become a familiar pattern during the past few weeks. One bitcoin is now selling for $735 dollars, up 5.5 percent since our last update. Litecoin is quoted at $3.92. This is higher by 2.6 percent but well below any important resistance levels.

Bitcoin Up 5.5 Percent

It’s another week of gains for BTC/USD. We’re now up by 5.5 percent compared to last Tuesday and close to 20 percent since the start of this rally back in October.

Although we haven’t seen any sizable gains during the past five days, the uptrend is still in place. To end it, the bears will have to push prices back below the $685 swing low on FXOpen. This corresponds to around $683 dollars per coin on other exchanges. A break of the spike low at $671 is needed to start a new downtrend.

On the other end, we have this month’s high at $744.69, slightly above the yearly high at $744.39. This forms a double-top pattern. A decisive break above here may lead to more gains. However, some caution is advised. For one, on other exchanges these levels are different. On BitStamp for example, we topped out this month at $755 but this year’s high was way above here at $778. The second point of caution would be length of the current rally. We’re now one-and-half months into this uptrend. If history is any guide, new entrants would be coming late to the party.

Litecoin Little Changed

Another range-bound week for bitcoin’s little brother LTC. While the altcoin is up 2.6 percent since last Tuesday, no clear momentum can be seen on the chart below.

We are well below the crucial resistance level at $4.08 and well above the important support near $3.64. No trend will emerge until the altcoin decides to break above/below these points. Litecoin is range-bound on the weekly and monthly charts as well.

Below $3.64 we have support at the $3.50 round figure followed by the $3.22 swing low. Further down we have more levels at the $3 round figure, the $2.89 swing low and the last August lows near $2.50 dollars per coin. Above $4.08, more levels can be found at $4.15, followed by a resistance area from $4.43 to $4.52 per coin. A clearing of this area could extend the rally.