Bitcoin price started a steady increase above $70,500 and $72,500. BTC is now consolidating and might aim for a fresh increase above $72,500.

• Bitcoin started a fresh increase after it settled above the $70,000 zone.
• The price is trading above $70,000 and the 100 hourly simple moving average.
• There is a bullish trend line forming with support at $69,000 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair (data feed from Kraken).
• The pair might dip again if it trades below the $70,000 and $69,000 levels.

Bitcoin Price Starts Downside Correction

Bitcoin price extended its increase above the $68,500 zone. BTC gained pace for a move above the $70,000 resistance zone. The price even rallied above the $72,000 resistance.

Finally, the bears appeared near $74,000. A high was formed at $74,062, and the price recently started a downside correction. There was a move below $72,000 and the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the upward move from the $66,164 swing low to the $74,062 high.

Bitcoin is now trading above $70,000 and the 100 hourly simple moving average. There is also a bullish trend line forming with support at $69,000 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair.

If the price remains stable above $70,000, it could attempt a fresh increase. Immediate resistance is near the $72,000 level. The first key resistance is near the $72,500 level. A close above the $72,500 resistance might send the price further higher. In the stated case, the price could rise and test the $73,200 resistance. Any more gains might send the price toward the $74,000 level. The next barrier for the bulls could be $75,000 and $75,500.

Downside Correction In BTC?

If Bitcoin fails to rise above the $72,000 resistance zone, it could start another decline. Immediate support is near the $70,000 level or the 50% Fib retracement level of the upward move from the $66,164 swing low to the $74,062 high. The first major support is near the $69,000 level.

The next support is now near the $68,500 zone. Any more losses might send the price toward the $68,000 support in the near term. The main support now sits at $66,200, below which BTC might struggle to recover in the near term.

Technical indicators:

Hourly MACD – The MACD is now losing pace in the bullish zone.

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for BTC/USD is now below the 50 level.

Major Support Levels – $70,000, followed by $69,000.

Major Resistance Levels – $72,000 and $72,500.

It has been a rough stretch for Bitcoin. Prices have been pinned between $60,000 and $70,000 for weeks, and a brief dip below $67,000 on Thursday did little to ease investor nerves.

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Now, a handful of analysts are saying the worst of the selling may finally be over — though what comes next is far from exciting.

No Crash, No Boom — Just Patience

Crypto analyst Willy Woo put it plainly on X. The wave of bearish selling by investors “seems to have exhausted,” he said, giving Bitcoin some breathing room to trade flat for the next few weeks.

A small bounce toward the mid-$70,000 range is possible. But Woo was clear — that kind of move would almost certainly be pushed back down before it gains any real footing.

His best guess for when the bearish trend actually ends is Q4 2026. A genuine bull run, he said, probably won’t return until Q1 or Q2 of 2027.

This bearish sell down by investors seems to have exhausted, which gives price a repreive to consolidate sideways for maybe a month, even a rebound to mid 70s, which would likely to be rejected.

This is because the broader regime is heavily bearish with both spot and futures… pic.twitter.com/MAUlmBJtbE

— Willy Woo (@willywoo) February 27, 2026

The wait, in other words, is measured in quarters — not weeks.

Woo also flagged something that doesn’t show up in Bitcoin’s price chart. Both spot and futures market liquidity are deteriorating at the same time.

That combination, he said, has never historically produced a real Bitcoin rally. Until one or both of those conditions improve, any upward movement is likely to be temporary.

Why Did Bitcoin Drop In The First Place?

Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan had a straightforward answer to that question. Forget the theories about market manipulation or fears over quantum computing breaking crypto encryption.

According to Hougan, the explanation is simple — people who owned Bitcoin sold it. Some followed the four-year market cycle. Others cashed out to fund investments in AI companies.

Some had no particular reason beyond wanting out. “They are mostly done selling, and we are in the process of bottoming,” he wrote on X.

The conspiracy theories are wild. First it was Binance and then it was Wintermute and then it was an unknown offshore macro hedge fund and then it was paper bitcoin and. today it is Jane Street and next week it will be someone else.

The real reason bitcoin is down is that a…

— Matt Hougan (@Matt_Hougan) February 26, 2026

Spring Will Come

New all-time highs will come, he added. “This is a classic crypto winter, and there will be a classic crypto spring.”

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For now, Woo’s analysis offers the most grounded take on where things stand. The selling has slowed. The market is catching its breath. But with liquidity still weak and no clear catalyst on the horizon,

Bitcoin’s path forward looks less like a comeback and more like a long, quiet wait — one that, by his own estimate, won’t end until the final months of 2026 at the earliest.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView