Bitcoin price surge: Breakthrough or bull trap? Pundits weigh in

cointelegraph.com:

While Bitcoin (BTC) has experienced a price pump to kick off the new year, many industry pundits are not convinced the cryptocurrency will continue its upward trajectory — at least in the short to mid-term. 

The impressive price surge — which saw BTC experience 14 days of consecutive price increases earlier this month — has called on many to consider whether the surge marks a significant “breakthrough” or is indicative of a “bull trap."

Speaking to Cointelegraph on Jan. 23, James Edwards, a cryptocurrency analyst at Australian-based fintech firm Finder said the argument for a “bull trap” is stronger, warning the recent surge could be “short-lived.”

He stated that while the BTC price moved upwards over the weekend, the NASDAQ Composite and the S&P 500 also made similar rallies:

Edwards added that cryptocurrency markets still have some “significant hurdles to clear before a new bull market can begin.”

Among those obstacles, he mentioned include the continued fallout over FTX’s collapse and the recent Chapter 11 filing by Genesis on Jan. 19.

"As such, we're going to see further sell-offs and downsizing as crypto firms adjust their balance sheets and dump tokens onto the market to cover debt and try to stay afloat,” he explained.

In a statement to Cointelegraph, Bloomberg Intelligence Senior Commodity Strategist Mike McGlone wasn’t confident in the BTC price trajectory either, citing recessionary-like macroeconomic conditions as too big of a barrier for BTC to overcome.

The sentiment was also shared among some on Crypto Twitter, with cryptocurrency analyst and swing trader “Capo of Crypto” telling his 710,000 Twitter followers on Jan. 21 that BTC’s push past resistance looks like “the biggest bull trap” he has ever seen:

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