Bitcoin has had a massive move so far in 2021.

But, for the past few weeks, the price has done nothing but chop around. That’s frustrating action to a lot of cryptocurrency traders.

And, it looks to me like it’s not going to get any better. Bitcoin is likely to stay “range bound” for several more weeks.

Here’s the bitcoin chart…

Bitcoin has been chopping around in a relatively tight trading range between $50,000 and $60,000 per coin for the past eight weeks. And, the crypto-bulls are starting to get frustrated.

Of course, that seems a bit silly. Bitcoin is up nearly 100% in 2021, so far. But, almost all of that gain happened in the first eight weeks. During the last eight weeks, the “King of Cryptos” has done nothing. Hence the frustration…

Now, the chart of bitcoin still looks bullish. It’s trading above all of the various moving averages. And, those moving averages are in a bullish configuration – with the shorter-term averages above the longer-term ones.

But, the moving averages are spread a little too far apart from each other. So, there’s not much energy to fuel a big move in one direction or the other just yet. The price of bitcoin needs to chop around for a while and allow the moving averages to coil together.

That’s the sort of action that builds up energy for the next big move.

Look at the coiling action that occurred on the chart from May through July of last year. After nearly doubling in price during the eight weeks prior, bitcoin spent nearly three months chopping back and forth between $8,000 and $10,000 per coin. That allowed all the moving averages to coil together. And, that led to a strong move higher for bitcoin going into August.

The “King of Cryptos” then spent most of September and October chopping inside a tight trading range. Once again, this action allowed the moving averages to coil together and build up energy to fuel the next big move.

Fast forward to today, and get used to the action we’ve seen over the past eight weeks…

The moving averages are getting closer to each other. But, they’re still much too far apart to be considered “coiled.” There’s not much energy in the chart. So, if bitcoin were to start a new rally phase from this condition, it probably wouldn’t be much of a move. And, it probably won’t last.

The most constructive action for bitcoin at the moment would be for it to keep chopping back and forth for several more weeks and allow its moving averages to coil together.

Then, maybe we can start talking about a mid-summer rally for the “King of Cryptos.”

Best regards and good trading,

Jeff Clark

Reader Mailbag

In today’s mailbag, Delta Report member Sharon thanks Jeff for his recent essay on market orders…

Hi Jeff, thank you for this great piece. I look forward to everything you have to say in your emails and website. Coincidently, I’ve been wondering when putting in a sell to close order whether to make the limit right at the bid.

– Sharon

And, Jeff Clark Trader member Stanley shares his experience on getting in on a trade recommendation…

I made my first trade with shaky hands in March. I missed your sell alert by a day, but I didn’t give up. Instead, I waited and put in a sell trade two days later with success. I’m looking forward to the next trade. 

– Stanley

Thank you, as always, for your thoughtful comments. We look forward to reading them every day. Keep them coming – and send us any questions – at feedback@jeffclarktrader.com.