Bitcoin bulls face a battle for support across multiple time frames as price action continues to fluctuate.

Bitcoin ( BTC ) hit a low below $41,700 as BTC price action brought fresh selling pressure after Wall Street opened on Dec. 15.

The largest cryptocurrency just recovered from the previous day’s rapid volatility but failed to hold the $43,000 level as Bitcoin bulls failed to continue the upward move.

The weak bitcoin price came on the heels of news that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rejected a request by major exchange Coinbase to change its cryptocurrency rules.

“Today, the Commission denied a petition for rulemaking filed on behalf of Coinbase Global, Inc.,” SEC Chairman Gary Gensler wrote in a statement.

“I am pleased to support the Commission’s decision for three reasons. First, existing laws and regulations apply to the crypto-securities markets. Second, the SEC is also addressing the crypto-securities markets through rulemaking. Third, it is important to maintain the Commission’s discretion in setting its own rulemaking priorities.”

The SEC has become embroiled in the current cryptocurrency market narrative as it is expected to approve the first U.S. Bitcoin spot price exchange-traded fund (ETF) in early 2024.

In a Dec. 13 interview with Bloomberg, Gensler acknowledged recent legal action related to the agency’s repeated rejections of Bitcoin spot ETF applications.

He said the SEC "acts in accordance with our authority and how the courts interpret our authority, and that's what we're going to do here."

Analyzing the latest setup on the order books, popular trader Skew noted that bid support is increasing at $41,000.

"From here it will be interesting to increase bid depth around $41k. Active supply is around $44k," a post on X (Twitter) noted in part.

Subsequent analysis highlighted that the low time frame exponential moving average (EMA) is now back in play.

$BTC 4H
The price is once again battling the 4H EMA, with the RSI currently below 50 and an important close to
Coincident with 4H 100EMA and 18D EMA
~ System Bid https://t.co/L89Nl6pW12 pic.twitter.com/G6CD5zCfXy

— Skew Δ (@52kskew) December 15, 2023

Bitcoin Price Bulls in Fibonacci Showdown

Meanwhile, Keith Alan, co-founder of trading resource Material Indicators, revealed that pulling the key weekly level back towards support still faces an ongoing struggle.

Related: Bitcoin traders expect 10% drop ahead, dollar hits 4-month low

This comes in the form of the 0.5 Fibonacci Retracement level near $42,500, one of several key hurdles to overcome on the way to the all-time high of $69,000.

If we look at the#Fibonaccilevels from the ATH to the#Bitcoinmacro swing lows, we find ourselves testing support inside the golden bag. This is bullish if the 0.5 Fib holds and leads to a breakout above the 0.618 level, but there appears to be an unresolved battle at the moment… pic.twitter.com/b5J6ajKbjh

— Keith Allen (@KAProductions) December 15, 2023

Materials indicators further show an increase in buying activity among large-volume traders at the time of writing.

“Mega whales are buying and trying to recoup $42,000,” part of X’s comment concluded.