Bitcoin shrugs off BlockFi, China protests as BTC price holds $16K

Bitcoin (BTC) held crucial $16,000 support into Nov. 29 as bulls weathered ongoing FTX fallout and macro triggers.

*BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView*

Trader teases BTC long as $16,500 reappears

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView confirmed BTC/USD leaving lower levels untouched overnight.

The pair had seen a flash downturn after the Nov. 27 weekly close thanks to uncertainty from China over COVID-19 measures.

A recovery nonetheless took the market higher, with $16,500 coming into play at the time of writing.

As Cointelegraph reported, traders and analysts had warned that it was all but essential to preserve current support, with a violation opening up the road to $14,000 or lower.

Popular trader Crypto Tony even felt comfortable going long BTC on the day.

“Flipping the EQ would be a safer long entry, but keeping this open with a tight stop loss is the best way for me,” he revealed to Twitter followers.

An accompanying chart identified support and resistance zones in play on midrange timeframes.

*BTC/USD annotated chart. Source: Crypto Tony/ Twitter*

Even fresh repercussions over the FTX debacle failed to dent Bitcoin’s performance. Meanwhile, these came in the form of a bankruptcy filing and lawsuit from crypto lender BlockFi.

The latest in a chain reaction sparked by FTX going under, the news came alongside a surprise resumption of salary payments by the defunct exchange.

“Makes sense after this bounce, as we’ve created a HL on Bitcoin and aiming at resistance again,” Michaël van de Poppe, founder and CEO of trading firm Eight, continued about a higher low (HL) on the 4-hour chart:

“Taking out the range between $16.5-16.8K would trigger continuation towards $18K.”

*BTC/USD annotated chart. Source: Michaël van de Poppe/ Twitter*

China woes cool ahead of Fed Powell speech

China meanwhile formed the main macro focus on the day, with anti-lockdown protests’ impact on market sentiment nonetheless seeming to ease.

Asian markets bounced back strongly, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng up 5.2% at the time of writing and the Shanghai Composite Index gaining 2.3%.

*Hang Seng Index (HSI) 1-hour candle chart. Source: TradingView*

“We do not expect China policy to publicly shift away from the Zero Covid stance, however, we could see some easing of the policy privately and in localized areas,” Mohit Kumar, an analyst at investment banking firm Jefferies, wrote in a note quoted by Bloomberg.

Nov. 30 looked set to be the key trading day of the week, with Bitcoin’s monthly close accompanied by a speech from Jerome Powell, Chair of the United States Federal Reserve.

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