Bitcoin tracks $39K ahead of Europe vote on Proof-of-Work legality

bitcoin (BTC) was flat at $39,000 at Wall Street's close on Monday as stocks took the opportunity to recoup some losses.

Bulls need a "miraculous" recovery of $40,600

Data of Markets Cointelegraph Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD stationary at the opening bell on March 14.

The pair recovered from a last minute drop to the weekly close on Sunday to avoid a deeper pullback so far.

However, the week would bring many potential challenges for the bulls, starting with a European vote on banning cryptocurrencies with proof-of-work algorithms on Monday.

Wednesday, however, was the main focusthis being the day the US Federal Reserve was due to announce a rumored key interest rate hike of 25 basis points.

Meanwhile, geopolitical tensions surrounding the Russian invasion of Ukraine, coupled with the resurgence of the coronavirus in China, have added to the list of obstacles.

Therefore, traders were lackluster on the immediate outlook, given what the market had to navigate. For Crypto Ed, the 0.618 Fibonacci level at around $40,400 was set to form a local top before a deeper pullback took hold.

Only a "miraculous" rally to $40,600, he said, could produce a bullish outcome.

#BTC
Looking for a pullback to the .618fib that lines up with the removal of the last top (stop hunting)
Image 1 - Remove Low TF High Range
Photo 2: Aligns with my S/R at 40.6k

Go short when sweeping the highs on an SFP.
Long when a miracle happens and clear recovery of $40.6k pic.twitter.com/Ic3uNTxGGH

— Ed_NL (@Crypto_Ed_NL) March 14, 2022

Fellow trader and analyst Anbessa meanwhile highlighted a cutoff point of $37,600 for the bulls to fight back.

On live order book charts, on-chain monitoring resource Materail Indicators further marked further selling pressure appearing at $40,000 on Monday.

“The new BTCUSDT solicitation liquidity that has just appeared seems to be trying to push the price down to the bid scale below. Expecting it to be withdrawn if the bids get filled,” the account commented on a chart showing the changes in the Binance order book.

Bloomberg Analyst: Bitcoin "Cold" vs. Oil

Moving to longer timeframes, Bloomberg Intelligence Chief Strategist Mike McGlone doubled down on his view that Bitcoin would ultimately emerge stronger from the current turmoil.

Related: Two years since the COVID-19 crash: 5 things to know about Bitcoin this week

Bitcoin, he noted that day, was defying an "ebb tide" in demand for risky assets by protecting most of its support.

“The fact that one of the most volatile and best-performing assets since the financial crisis, Bitcoin, shows relative buoyancy in a ebbing tide of risky assets in Q1 may herald the maturation of cryptocurrencies towards digital collateral, in a world that goes that way. ," he argument along with a chart comparing WTI oil to BTC.

Commodities continued to be the biggest movers at the start of the week, while oil futures, however, started to cool off.