Markets take the escalator up and elevator down goes an old Wall Street shibboleth, and crypto is following that script this week, with several days of hard-earned gains more than wiped away in Friday trade.
Nearly pushing through the $118,000 level at one point on Thursday after the Federal Reserve one day earlier trimmed interest rates for the first time this year, bitcoin has pulled back to $115,600, down 1.5% over the past 24 hours and now essentially flat over the past seven days.
Ether (ETH) has pulled back from the $4,750 area to $4,460, lower by 2.9% over the past 24 hours and now off 1.5% week-over-week.
Amid ETF excitement and growing institutional adoption, the two hottest crypto majors this week were solana and dogecoin . Both, however, have returned to flat over the last seven days, with SOL lower by 4.5% over the past 24 hours and DOGE down 6.3%.
Technical factors suggest reason for optimism
In a world where U.S. stocks have been putting in record highs on a daily basis, it may seem that bitcoin has failed to gain much ground of late. Its price action over the past few weeks, though, has formed a clear ascending triangle pattern, highlighted by a series of higher lows, while pressing against horizontal resistance near $118,000.
Each pullback since early September has found support at a rising trendline, signaling steady accumulation and a bullish bias among traders. The market is currently consolidating in the $115,700 around the rising support line.
For now, the higher lows keep the advantage tilted toward bulls, with traders closely watching the $118,000 ceiling.
