Bitcoin (BTC) extended losses at the opening of Wall Street on July 21 after a key resistance level failed to hold fresh support.
The dollar appreciates and compresses risky assets
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed that the BTC/USD pair fell to $22,340 on Bitstamp after the opening bell, down 8% from the local high.
Tesla challenged the pair’s progress, revealing that 75% of their BTC position had been sold at a loss. Macroeconomic events then added to bitcoin’s woes in the form of renewed US dollar strength and a surprise rate hike by the European Central Bank (ECB) to fight inflation.

At the time of writing, the US Dollar Index (DXY) had recovered 107, and gained 0.6% in one hour, while US common stocks, on the other hand, recorded small losses.
In Europe, the ECB’s decision did little to improve conditions for the euro, which lost its early gains as the eurozone faces another political fallout in Italy.
Hello historic morning #ECB a day from Italy when the main interest rate should be at 6% & therefore 6ppts higher than the current rate, in accordance with the Taylor Rule w/ the core of Italy #inflation at 3.4% above ECB target & unemployment at 8.1% close to NAIRU. ECB rates should be 7.4ppts higher for full EZ. pic.twitter.com/1Nh8yg4e6A
— Holger Zschaepitz (@Schuldensuehner) July 21, 2022
Good morning on this historic #ECB day from Italy where the main interest rate is expected to be 6%, which is 6 percentage points higher than the current rate, according to the Taylor rule. ECB rates are expected to be 7.4 percentage points higher for the eurozone as a whole. pic.twitter.com/1Nh8yg4e6A — Holger Zschaepitz (@Schuldensuehner) July 21, 2022
“It’s curious to see if we get a similar breakdown of stocks as we’ve had in the past,” it said tweeted popular trader Josh Rager, looking at a fractal of the S&P 500 since late May.
“Obviously, this would have an impact on the price action of BTC and cryptocurrencies.”
The macro impact has already cost Bitcoin its 200-week and 50-day moving averages at the time of writing, both of which remain at $22,800.
“Unfortunately for the bulls, BTC missed the 50-day moving average and the key 200-week moving average,” wrote Material Indicators, an analysis resource. on a chainas part of its latest update, adding that the closest macro support level is now just below $20,000.
The retracement of the 50-Day MA confirmed the Trend Identification signals on the D chart. Unfortunately for bulls, #BTC lost the 50-Day MA and the key 200-Week MA. The next technical support level is the green 21-Day MA just above the micro trend line. pic.twitter.com/r5m5HFl15i
— Content Indicators (@MI_Algos) July 21, 2022
A retest of the 50-day moving average confirmed the trend recognition signals on chart D. Unfortunately for the bulls, #BTC missed the 50-day moving average and the key 200-week moving average. The next level of technical support is the 21-day green MA just above the micro-trend line. pic.twitter.com/r5m5HFl15i — Content Indicators (@MI_Algos) July 21, 2022.
For renowned Crypto trader and analyst Tony, the level is now $21,700 preserve.
Comparing 2022 to previous bearish markets, he argued that bitcoin should still be able to see some upside before falling again; a sentiment echoed by others this week.
I’ve just gone over the bear markets before and looking at the timing and the overall look. So far our transition has taken 210 days and we are doing the biggest drop with minimal relief
I think there is more relief than another fall later this year pic.twitter.com/pqjDEgOy1b
— CryptoTony (@CryptoTony__) July 21, 2022
$BTC / $USD – Update. I’ve just reviewed previous bear markets looking at timing and general outlook. So far, our transition has taken 210 days, and the biggest drop has been put together with minimal relief. I’m thinking more relief than another drop later this year pic.twitter.com/pqjDEgOy1b — Crypto Tony (@CryptoTony__) July 21, 2022.
Altcoins Echo Losing Momentum
On altcoins, volatility was common, with large cap signs facing uncertain headwinds.
Also read: July 20 Price Analysis: BTC, ETH, BNB, XRP, ADA, SOL, DOGE, DOT, MATIC, AVAX
Ether (ETH), which has so far been the best performer among the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, fell as much as 9.7% overnight.

At the time of writing, the ETH/USD pair was hovering around the $1,500 mark, while Cardano (ADA) and Solana (SOL) were also down about 10% in 24 hours.
Commenting on the outlook, however, Jonah Van Bourg, head of trading at cryptocurrency liquidity provider Cumberland, indicated that Ethereum’s proof-of-stake transition was a factor in remaining bullish on the largest altcoin.
In one of the tweets published the same day, we able to read “While the recent price action has been technical and highly macro-correlated, this move was fundamental: the Sepolia testnet merger was successful on proof-of-concept on July 6, setting the stage for the merger of the. mainnet at the beginning of autumn”.
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