Bitcoin prices continue to surge and are now within a couple percentage points off all-time highs. Litecoin, on the other hand, continues to lose ground to the big brother but is trading mostly flat versus the U.S. Dollar.

Bitcoin Nears All-Time Highs

The bitcoin surge continues. As you can see on the chart below, the crypto is slicing through resistance levels like a knife through butter.

As noted last week, with the break of the $4,500 figure BTC/USD has moved back in an uptrend. We are currently trading at $4,829 dollars per coin, only $131 away from the $4,960 all-time high on FXOpen and $171 dollars from the $5,000 all-time high on other major exchanges. This important round figure will be the next milestone. A decisive breakout above it could accelerate the gains.

On the lower end, we have support at the $4,500 level, followed by $4,123 swing low and the $4,000 round figure. A break of $4,123 dollars would mean the technical end of the current rally. Below here we have support area around the $3,500 round figure, where we also find the $3,507 swing low. A clearing of this area would start a new downtrend and could potentially open the door to $3,000. On the weekly and monthly charts, BTC/USD remains in an uptrend.

Fundamentally it appears that (at least partially) the surge is due to the upcoming bitcoin fork in November. Traders may feel emboldened by the ‘free dividend’ they got during the August fork of bitcoin cash. The situation may be different this time around however as there is (still) no safe way to split the coins from the two forks.

Earlier today the main developer behind ‘Segwit2x’ removed the opt-in replay protection due to security concerns. Both the ‘Core’ and the ‘Segwit2x’ camps want to keep the title of ‘true BTC’. They have been unwilling to hardcore ‘replay protection’ in their software because doing so could be seen as admittance that their chain doesn’t have enough hash power to avoid wipe-out.

Litecoin Still in Downtrend

While LTC/USD hasn’t lost much ground vs the USD, it hasn’t gained ground either. This means that we still haven’t broken the important resistance at $57.32 dollars. As we mentioned last week, this level is the new number to watch. A decisive break above here would both end the downtrend and start a new rally.

Below current pricesб we find weak support at the $50 round figure, followed by another weak support at yesterday’s low of $47.85. A stronger level can be found at the $44.47 swing low, followed by the $40 round figure and another swing low at $38.11 dollars per coin. Last month’s spike low at $32.35 dollars is another notable support level. The weekly chart for LTC/USD doesn’t show a clear trend. The monthly is still looking bullish.

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