The Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) price dipped again, down 2% in the past 24 hours.
It's currently trading for US$48,175 (AU$66,908).
While the crypto remains up 63% year-to-date, it's now down 30% from its 10 November all-time high of US$68,789. At the time it had a market cap of some US$1.2 trillion.
At the current Bitcoin price, the market cap has fallen to US$905 billion.
With the world's first digital token now in retreat for 5 weeks running, crypto investors are wondering what's next.
Could the Bitcoin price be set for a bounce?
One thing analysts look at when forecasting the next moves for the Bitcoin price is the 200-day moving average. It's a technique used for forecasting share price movements as well.
If an asset falls below its 200-day moving average it's seen as a bearish signal. For Bitcoin, that currently stands at around US$46,000.
Damanick Dantes, a crypto market analyst at CoinDesk, notes that the Bitcoin price (in US dollars) "continues to hold support above $46,000".
As to what crypto investors can expect next, Dantes forecasts:
Price momentum is starting to turn positive on the daily chart for the first time since October, which preceded a price recovery. This time, however, the uptrend is slowing on the weekly chart, which means upside could be limited beyond $55,000 to $60,000.
A note of caution
Alex Kuptsikevich, analyst at FxPro, sounds a more cautious note on the outlook for the Bitcoin price and the wider crypto market.
He points to tightening monetary policy by the US Federal Reserve and other leading central banks as likely to impact demand for high-risk assets like Bitcoin.
According to Kuptsikevich (quoted by CoinDesk):
Long-term investors should not lose sight of the natural tightening of financial conditions because of these moves, which will slowly but persistently reduce demand for risky assets. The main risk for the crypto market is that we have seen a monetary regime switch in the last couple of months, which promises to take some of the demand for crypto away.
