KEY POINTS

  • Bitcoin remains above $10,000, showing strong support in the area
  • There is an existing CME gap at $9,600 which Bitcoin might revisit
  • The gap is the unfilled space in the price chart that appears when Bitcoin moves aggressively outside the CME trading hours 

While analysts are confident of the $10,000 support level for Bitcoin, some worry that the CME gap around $9,600 may affect the current price stability, leading Bitcoin to a downward path of filling the gap and breaking the $10,000 level.

The CME gap is the unfilled space in the price chart of Bitcoin every time the benchmark cryptocurrency aggressively moves in either price direction outside the Chicago Mercantile Exchange's trading hours. Being a traditional exchange, the CME has set trading hours and is closed during weekends. The cryptocurrency markets are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The most recent CME gap appeared at $9600 last July. With Bitcoin now hovering around $10,000-$10,300, the possibility of revisiting the CME gap appears stronger.

Bitcoin closed Thursday at $10,342 and appeared to have struggled to breach past $10,500, a psychological resistance level.

The long tail of the candlesticks in the chart seemed to suggest that bulls are clearly buying at the current level, enough to push the price above $10,000 but weak to push the price further above $10,500. News outlet Cointelegraph reports that the benchmark cryptocurrency has not yet established a clear pattern based on current price behavior, making the CME gap revisit seems likely.

An alternative outlook is shared by market analyst Willy Woo, who suggested that the CME gap might not actually be filled this time.

"So far it’s been front run for liquidity. Every dip snapped up," he said in a tweet, adding that it could be the first CME gap that will remain unfilled. However, that is not true because there are existing CME gaps at around $3,000 and $16,000 price levels.

Between June and July, the $9,900 area was the key resistance, which led Bitcoin to consolidate within the $9,000 area for two months. The consolidation allowed Bitcoin to have the force to breach past $10,000 on July 27, and it could be another reason why the benchmark cryptocurrency would not revisit the CME gap soon, the Cointelegraph report says.

Bitcoin
In this photo illustration a visual representation of the digital currency Bitcoin sinks into water in London, England, Aug. 15, 2018. Dan Kitwood/Getty Images