Bitcoin faces a crunching weekly close as bulls seek to break through a seven-month downtrend.

BTC/USD 1-hour chart. Source: TradingView

BTC price finally teases key breakout

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView reveals BTC price action attempting to crack resistance in place since March’s all-time high.

Bitcoin (BTC) has spent over half a year consolidating within a downward-sloping channel since hitting its record highs of $73,800.

Despite several attempts to reenter price discovery, BTC/USD has remained rangebound ever since. Now, traders hope the landscape is different.

Analyzing the weekly chart, trader and analyst Rekt Capital showed repeated stabs at the channel’s upper edge, the latest coming this week.

“Bitcoin has experienced a rejection from the top of the Downtrending Channel (red) just like in the past (blue circles),” he said.

“It's essential Bitcoin Weekly Closes inside the red resistance to avoid a deeper rejection from here.”

BTC/USD 1-week chart. Source: Rekt Capital/X

A weekly close beyond the channel top, currently at around $68,000, is already in sight as buyers keep up pressure and give bears little room for maneuver.

“Still early on in the week,” Rekt Capital concluded.

“Generally, we need to observe this Downtrending Channel resistance (red) for signs of weakening compared to previous rejections.”

BTC/USDT 1-day chart. Source: Daan Crypto Trades/X

On lower timeframes, there is more cause for optimism thanks to daily closes already occurring outside the channel.

“With the recent move, it has finally broken out of the channel it traded in for most 2024,” fellow trader and analyst Daan Crypto Trades told X followers.

An accompanying chart further showed BTC/USD clearing its 200-day simple (SMA) and exponential moving average (EMA) cloud — something “causing some struggles since the Summer.”

“Short-Mid timeframe trend is also up,” Daan Crypto Trades added.

Bitcoin institutional demand eyes records

Earlier, Cointelegraph reported on the overall demand for Bitcoin still being heavily influenced by relatively modest price shifts.

Recent days have continued the trend, with upward BTC price action spawning a chain reaction among investor capital inflows.

“Bitcoin investment vehicles globally have seen net yearly inflows of 360,000 BTC and are on track to surpass the Grayscale-led 2020 record of 373,000 BTC,” Vetle Lunde, senior analyst at crypto analytics firm K33 Research, confirmed on Oct. 18.

Bitcoin ETF netflows. Source: Vetle Lunde/X

Total net flows of the United States spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have topped a record $20 billion, while total assets have reached a new all-time high of $65 billion.

“For context, it took gold ETFs about 5yrs to reach same number,” Eric Balchunas, a senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, commented on the $20 billion tally.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.