Consensus says that $22,400 marks the start of possible bottom territory, but the downside targets technically extend all the way to $11,000.
Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at its lowest since mid-December 2020 on June 13, but the bottom could be anywhere.
As the weekend sell-off intensifies, BTC/USD has now broken below its realized price for the first time since March 2020, data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView confirms.
Bitcoin clings to realized price
At around $23,400, the realized price — the average price at which each BTC last moved — is acting as the first solid support so far on lower timeframes.
Previous levels, including those highlighted as potential bottoms, have failed to hold, and sentiment continues to favor further sell-side pressure thanks to the Celsius aftermath, inflation and forthcoming actions by the United States Federal Reserve.
Where BTC/USD could put in a final macro floor, meanwhile, is now a topic of heated debate.
The first port of call for a significant drawdown is the 200-week simple moving average (200 SMA), traders and analysts agree.
At $22,370 as of June 13, the 200 SMA has acted as key support throughout Bitcoin's lifetime, with only brief wicks below it marking generational spot price bottoms.
The 200 SMA has never broken its own uptrend, and the hope is that reaching it will allow bulls a period of respite.
"People are looking to buy there, it's going to bounce more than likely at that area," Josh Rager argued in a dedicated video update on the day.
While describing the bounce at the 200 SMA as a "self-fulfilling prophecy," thanks to the scope of interest in it, he warned that there was a guarantee that BTC/USD would not continue south this time around.
This is thanks to historical precedent, which shows Bitcoin bottoming out up to 84% below its latest all-time high. At $69,000, such a bottom would thus lie at just $11,000.
"That would be detrimental; I don't think the price drops that low, I mean you're basically looking at a full retrace of the entire bull market and we have never seen that," Rager continued.
Instead, areas of interest are the 2017 all-time high around $20,000, as well as the area immediately below, extending to $17,000. Also worth paying attention to is $14,000, equating to an 80% retracement from the current all-time highs, he added.
As Cointelegraph reported, several of those levels have already been underscored by others as potential bottoms, among them by trader and analyst Rekt Capital.
In a series of tweets on June 13, the significance of the 200 SMA again came into play.
Historically, #BTC tends to wick -14% to -28% below the 200-week MA
— Rekt Capital (@rektcapital) June 13, 2022
A -14% wick this time around would translate to a ~$19000 $BTC
A -28% wick would mean BTC could reach as low as ~$15500 before reversing to the upside#Crypto #Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/j9tal7ZSt0
Fed becomes bulls' last chance saloon
At the time of writing, meanwhile, BTC/USD had managed to avoid a fresh dive in line with U.S. equities markets.
Related: Lowest weekly close since December 2020 — 5 things to know in Bitcoin this week
The S&P 500, by contrast, lost down 3% within the first hour of trading, while the Nasdaq Composite Index shed 3.6%.
To halt crypto's decline, some claim only the Fed can step in, reversing monetary tightening as rising interest rates throttle growth.
"Realize how little this crypto dump has to do with Celsius and the stETH drama and all to do with the widespread panic in risk assets (equities and crypto alike) and broken charts," economist, trader and entrepreneur Alex Krueger told Twitter followers on the day, brushing aside the Celsius news.
A further post read:
"This is just my opinion, I'm often wrong. My guesstimate is Celsius added 1.2x to the fuel. Everybody making it about Celsius. Watch the media tomorrow. But without Friday's CPI numbers and equities collapsing this would not have happened."
Nonetheless, illusions were few and far between for longtime Bitcoin market participants. Should BTC/USD drop below $20,000, it would be the first time ever that a previous halving cycle's all-time high would be crossed.
#Fed FOMC starts tomorrow. Chances of 50 bps vs 75 bps hike. pic.twitter.com/ftdQ9ZpmcL
— Ansel Lindner (@AnselLindner) June 13, 2022
"Without a Fed pivot, I expect this will be the first cycle Bitcoin drops below the prior cycles' all-time high," Charles Edwards, CEO of asset manager Capriole, concluded.
The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.
