200 hour MA stalls rallies on Coinbase and Bitstamp exchanges

The 200 hour MA has been acting as a ceiling for bitcoin on the Coinbase and the Bitstamp exchanges.

The 200 hour MA on Coinbase comes in at $14245.83.

The 200 hour MA on Bitstamp comes in at $14138.04 (see chart below).

On each exchange, if there is a break above the MA level, the buyers will feel a bit more comfortable and should attract more buyers looking to get in at a relatively low level.

The price of bitcoin has moved down from near $20,000 high on December 17th. A price at $14+K is quite a bit cheaper.

The price action in bitcoin is tilted in the longs/buyers direction as selling the cryptocurrency short is difficult. That does not mean that the longs can all exit, and in the process, overwhelm the buyers (i.e. the bids can disappear).

Smart traders - who are concerned about risk - will want to see the price action, and technicals, more bullish. What does that look like?

Holding a floor level (see white horizontal lines in the charts above), or breaking back above a trailing MA (like the 200 hour MA) are examples where buyers can define a more bullish (or bearish) bias.

Right now, the price is trading above floor levels on each exchange, but trades below the key 200 hour MAs. So a battle is on. Break either extreme will likely trigger a momentum reaction. Be aware.