Bitcoin (BTC) faces major resistance, which is keeping the BTC price rebound below $60,000.

While recovering up to 6.2% from this week’s lows, BTC/USD has not managed to break through key trendlines, data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView confirms.

Moving average threatens BTC price "ordeal”

Bitcoin saw a 23% pullback from all-time highs through April and into May, and so far, the odds of a return to BTC price discovery remain low.

As Cointelegraph reported, Arthur Hayes, former CEO of crypto exchange BitMEX, expects rangebound trading below $70,000 to characterize BTC/USD through August.

First, however, $60,000 must be reclaimed, and so far, the trendlines guarding it are winning out over bulls.

On the radar is Bitcoin’s 100-day moving average (MA), currently at $59,930 as of May 3.

This trendline has acted as market support since October 2023 and provided a floor through the first half of 2023’s Bitcoin bull market.

Now, however, the price is printing full daily candles below it.

Commenting on the phenomenon, trading resource Material Indicators agreed that bulls were “running into strong technical resistance at the 100-Day MA.”

An accompanying chart showed one of Material Indicators’ proprietary trading tools flashing green on daily timeframes.

“Reclaiming the 100-Day Moving Average would be a big deal for Bitcoin Bulls that could lead to a short squeeze,” co-founder Keith Alan continued in a post on X.

“A rejection would be an ordeal.”

Bitcoin short-term holders underwater

Another BTC price hurdle to clear on the road to recovery is a classic bull market support line — the short-term holder realized price (STH-RP).

Related: Bitcoin price correction ‘very common’ if $56K lows hold — Peter Brandt

This refers to the aggregate cost basis of more speculative Bitcoin hodlers — wallets storing BTC for 155 days or less.

When the price returns to STH-RP — which occurred multiple times in recent weeks — it can act as solid support, as it did for much of the bull market since early 2023.

STH-RP sat at $59,684 on May 1, the latest date for which figures are available on the on-chain data resource Look Into Bitcoin.

The metric thus forms another key trendline concentrated within close proximity to $60,000.

In his latest X commentary, Caleb Franzen, CEO of Cubic Analysts, included STH-RP in his own selection of resistance levels to clear.

“My personal line in the sand for ‘risk-on’ is a daily close above $61k. Lots of work to do,” he concluded.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.