Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at its highest levels in over two months, but the phrase on every trader’s lips is “bull trap.”
After delivering 25% returns in a single week, BTC/USD remains under suspicion for Bitcoin bear market survivors.
Bitcoin bull trap fails to convince
It has been called the “biggest bull trap” ever seen, and despite holding above $20,000, BTC price action is fooling no one.
This week, with Wall Street closed until Jan. 17, out-of-hours trading continues to support higher levels, but faith in these staying around for long is hard to find.
For those who observed drop after drop throughout 2022, culminating in the FTX scandal, it appears simply too good to be true that Bitcoin will now flip bullish.
That is the current result of Cointelegraph’s dedicated Twitter survey, which asks market participants and other Twitter users whether the latest bull run has legs.
At the time of writing, only 38.6% of over 5,000 responses believe it does, with the majority agreeing that $21,000 BTC/USD is a “bull trap.”
A bull run or bull trap?
— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) January 16, 2023They are far from alone.
“The moment they realize this pump is just a short squeeze and not real buying, it will be too late already. Once again, the biggest bull trap I've ever seen,” popular account Il Capo of Crypto wrote in a debate over the weekend.
Similarly skeptical was analyst Toni Ghinea, who likewise agreed with the “bull trap” description.
“People are bullish. You know what happens next,” he added, having also predicted that BTC/USD would fall to $14,000 at some point in 2023.
"The very epitome of disbelief"
Others, meanwhile, are less categorical in their market appraisals but will not be drawn on the odds of the rally enduring.
Related: BTC price cancels FTX losses — 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week
Fellow trader Pentoshi forecast “a decent amount of volatility and sharp moves each way imo short term” last week, while Jeff Ross, founder and CEO of Vailshire Capital Management, said that “only time will tell.”
“Regime change or bull trap?” he queried as BTC/USD approached its first weekly close above the 200-day moving average in months.
Investor and entrepreneur Alistair Milne, a veteran of Bitcoin markets, nonetheless had a message for those still on the fence.
“Seeing a lot of 'I don't trust this rally' or 'this is a bull trap' or 'why does this make me uncomfortable' in my feed,” he tweeted at the weekend.
“This is the very epitome of the 'disbelief' stage of a market cycle. Bitcoin bear markets end with face-melting rallies (typically a 2x from lows).”An accompanying graphic showed the ever-popular "Wall Street Cheat Sheet," with Milne arguing that Bitcoin was at the start of a new bull run. As Cointelegraph reported, not everyone agrees, even on this.
At the time of writing, BTC/USD traded at $20,800 on Bitstamp, data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed.
BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingViewThe views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the authors’ alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.
