
A bitcoin rally to new 2020 highs has been slowed by lower spot volume. Meanwhile, some ether investors are moving capital out of DeFi.
- Bitcoin (BTC) trading around $15,502 as of 21:00 UTC (4 p.m. ET). Gaining 2.6% over the previous 24 hours.
- Bitcoin’s 24-hour range: $15,190-$15,934
- BTC near its 10-day moving average but above the 50-day, a sideways signal for market technicians.

Bitcoin’s price rise stalled Friday after making gains over the past 24 hours, most notably going as high as $15,934, according to CoinDesk 20 data. It was trading at $15,502 as of press time.
“BTC has been bullish for the last four weeks, incredibly rallying from $10,000 to $15,000,” noted Ian Balina, chief executive officer of analysis firm Token Metrics. “This month’s rally is similar to its previous big rally back in 2017 when BTC rallied from $6,000 to almost $20,000 over November and December.”
The last time bitcoin’s price was at these levels was back on Jan. 7, 2018, when its 24-hour low was $15,632, a descent from that day’s $16,861 high during an overall market sell-off, according to the CoinDesk 20.

“The next resistance level is between $16,000 and $17,000,” Balina added. “If it flies by that, it can retest its all-time high and possibly move above $20,000.”
A bitcoin price push higher will likely require the return of higher-than-average spot volumes. Volumes for Friday were much lower than Thursday, which at $1,569,081,137 was the highest daily average volume day since July 27. On that summer day it hit $1,579,784,44 on major USD/BTC spot exchanges. As of press time, Friday’s spot exchange volume was at $1,064,734,786.

Futures open interest for…