Bitcoin Faces 'Critical Time.' Analysts Warn Of Drop To $73K.

Bitcoin prices continued to bob on Wednesday, hitting an intraday high around $84,000 following a weekslong pullback. Analysts at 10X Research projected a possible drop to $73,000, as the cryptocurrency felt for support around a key technical trading level. Bitcoin-related stocks and long ETFs reversed early gains into losses Wednesday. ETFs shorting bitcoin extended their year-to-date gains.

"This is a critical time when risk management, recognizing historical parallels, analyzing chart patterns, and closely monitoring market structure becomes essential," a group of analysts at 10X Research wrote in a Tuesday note. "Losses can accelerate quickly in deteriorating conditions."

The firm points to "striking" similarities between current conditions and the end of the last crypto bull market in 2021.

The loudest promoters hyped various coins with promises of upside as the crypto bull market sputtered in 2021. When prices collapsed, they then reframed the asset's volatility as a feature. Institutions then moved to take advantage of the spreads between crypto and other forms of decentralized finance vs. the traditional finance interest rate markets.

"This time, the playbook has shifted to exploiting the spread between BTC spots and futures, yet the underlying pattern remains the same," 10X Research wrote.