Bitcoin Bull Trap? Powell’s Dovishness Fades as Bears Strike Back

21.03.25 12:57 AM By Stormrake

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Following Powell’s presser yesterday morning, Bitcoin and the broader crypto market enjoyed healthy gains, seemingly turning a corner. The dovish tone from Powell appeared to be the break Bitcoin needed to flip bullish, with BTC surging back above $87K and finally breaking out of its consolidation range. Many altcoins followed suit, rallying over 10%.

However, the move turned out to be a bull trap. Bears swiftly regained control, sending Bitcoin back into its previous range, now trading around $84K once again.

Adding to the market’s volatility, Trump spoke last night at the Digital Asset Summit, sparking speculation that he might announce zero capital gains tax on certain cryptocurrencies or offer a favourable stance on a US Bitcoin reserve. Investors were left disappointed as neither materialised, leading to further market declines.

Now back within the consolidation range it spent over 10 days attempting to break, Bitcoin’s bullish momentum is fading. The latest lower high on the daily timeframe further strengthens the bearish case. With no major macro or crypto catalysts left this month, we can expect the market to play out naturally—assuming no surprise tariff changes or ceasefire announcements shift sentiment. Given the current bearish structure, risk-off behaviour could push Bitcoin back below $80K…

In other news, the first Solana ETF has launched in the United States, providing institutional investors with exposure to SOL. However, the launch has had little impact on SOL’s price, which has followed broader market trends and is currently down 6% on the day.

Stormrake Spotlight: Ripple (XRP) ($2.43)

XRP is currently pulling back after an almost 12% gain the previous day and is now down 4.4%. It is testing both the middle of its broader consolidation range and the 55 EMA. If XRP can hold these support levels, the bullish structure remains intact, and momentum could push it back to retest the top of the range in the coming weeks. However, if it fails to hold and drops below the middle of the range, it risks invalidating the newly formed bullish structure, potentially leading to a move back towards the bottom of the range instead.

BTC/USD Key Levels and Price Action:

Bitcoin has fallen back into its range and now risks flipping short-term momentum back to the bears. To maintain its bullish structure, BTC must form a higher low above $83.6K—if it breaks below this level, the structure is lost, and momentum will likely follow. Failure to reclaim $85.2K resistance would confirm that bullish momentum is fading, increasing the likelihood of a move back to the bottom of the range.


BTC Total ETF Flows for 20 Mar: $ - 27.5 million

(ETF flow data is sourced from https://farside.co.uk/btc/ and reflects figures at the time of writing.)
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*All prices are denominated in USD unless stated otherwise*

Written by Alexandar Artis

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