Bitcoin, Litecoin Target Top of the Range

Both Bitcoin and Litecoin and slowly inching closer to the top of their respective ranges. Big brother bitcoin advanced by just over $8 dollars since our last update. Meanwhile Litecoin clocked gains of 18 cents or 6% in percentage terms.

Bitcoin Rallies by $8 Dollars

Bitcoin rallied slightly by $8 dollars or 3.6 percent since last Tuesday. In today’s trading session, a new multi-day high of $237.69 was reached. But soon after the congestion curse struck again with BTC/USD falling to a daily low of $234. We are currently quoted at $236.50 dollars.

But as can be seen on the chart above, despite the gains, we are still firmly in a range (marked with the yellow rectangle). The bounds of this congestion area are loosely set at $224 and $246 dollars per coin. Note that these are not breakout bounds. Due to the propensity of range-bound markets to generate false breaks, it’s a good idea to add some buffer.

At the top, a better level for a breakout is the round $250 level. This was the starting point for both the previous rally and the subsequent decline. It’s probably still relevant and a clean break above here may start a new BTC rally. On the lower end, we have several weaker support levels below $224, at $220 and $216. But even lower we find the previous double bottom for bitcoin at $210 dollars. A decisive breakdown below this figure may jump-start a new downtrend in prices.

Litecoin Gains 6 Percent

Alternative cryptocurrency Litecoin gained 6 percent since our last update. We bottomed out at $2.70 on September 16th and since then it has been a slow but steady grind higher. Today we peaked at $3.1223, almost breaking the previous swing high at $3.1241. This high marks the top of the range for LTC/USD.

However same as with bitcoin, soon after the highs were reached we saw heavy selling. This type of behavior is normal during congestion phases as market participants start to sell the tops and buy the bottoms. Litecoin has fallen substantially by 12 cents, or just under 4 percent since today’s peak.

As we can see on the chart above, the rough outlines of the range are at $2.50 and $3.1241. But like we mentioned above, it’s a good idea to add some buffer. For Litecoin, a better breakout point of the upside is the $3.17-$3.1840 area. Here we have a cluster of previous support and resistance levels. A clean move above $3.19 may end the current range and start a LTC rally. Higher up, resistance can be found at the round $3.50 handle, followed by the previous swing high at $3.62.

On the bottom, while the low of the range is at $2.50, right after we find another important support at $2.40 dollars per coin. A decisive break below this level may lead to more losses. Further down, we have support at $2.05, followed by the round $2 dollars figure.