Bitcoin rise is merely "a continuation of recent consolidation"

The cryptocurrency market is mixed on Friday, with the major digital currencies unable to clearly break above their early resistance levels. The short-term buying momentum, that propelled Bitcoin near $42,000 and Ethereum to $2,800, has lost steam as experts indicate that the gains are merely part of the consolidation that cryptocurrencies have been engaged in for weeks.

"What we're seeing here is a continuation of the consolidation we've been seeing in Bitcoin for weeks," noted Craig Erlam, analyst at Oanda. He added, "This could continue for a while longer and a breakout to the upside probably looks more likely" than a fall to supports at $38,000 - $37,000. Thus, traders remain optimistic as Bitcoin remains above $40,000 for the third day in a row. It has also strung together two closing sessions in the $41,000 area.

"A move above last week's highs would be a big step in the right direction," stated Erlam, although the expert also warned that some risk aversion is once again taking hold in the markets. Mind you, the resistance to overcome is at $42,000 so that $45,000 - $46,000 can be put back into play.

"The future of Bitcoin is still immersed in an impeccable triangle (falling highs and rising lows) and regardless of the type of triangle that it is, the key is to see where the price ends up jumping," commented José María Rodríguez, an analyst at 'Bolsamania'. "If it breaks at the top, it is normal for a significant upward stretch to unfold, and if it does so at the bottom, then we will see significant falls. And right now the price is trading somewhat closer to the top than to the bottom, but it continues to do so in the no-man's-zone," he added.

"However, what does seem clear is that a potential breakout, with slack and volume (and if it is on the weekly, all the better) would trigger a clear underlying buy signal. The key is at $46,000, the February highs," Rodríguez stated. "Above that resistance, it is normal that it will end up looking for levels close to $60,000 (the width of the triangle) with a high probability of ending up attacking the all-time highs at $69,255," he concluded.

As for the rest of the tokens, the highlights include rises for Ethereum, that challenged the resistance level at $2,800, with a high on March 17 at $2,826. The technical analysis is very positive as it continues to trade above the 100-session moving average at $2,700. However, a modest correction is not ruled out in the coming hours, which would imply that Ether - the unit of the Ethereum network - would revisit the $2,650/80 level.

The rest of the altcoins slightly corrected Thursday's gains and the total capitalization remains above $1.82 trillion.