Bitcoin (BTC) fell below $9,500 for the first time in almost two weeks on Feb. 17 as downward pressure continued to pressure markets.

Crypto market weekly price chart

Crypto market weekly price chart. Source: Coin360

BTC further rejects $10K

Data from Coin360 and Cointelegraph Markets showed BTC/USD hitting twelve-day lows of $9,485 on Monday. At press time, the BTC price was struggling to find support at $9,500. 

The shift lower followed a four-day slide for Bitcoin, which had topped out at $10,500 before seeing considerable resistance kick in. 

Some traders appeared worried, as evidenced by a single deposit onto derivatives giant BitMEX on Monday, which totaled 600 BTC ($5.72 million).

Weekly losses totaled around 3.5% on the day, while monthly performance remained strong at 7% growth.

As Cointelegraph reported, year-to-date returns for Bitcoin investors likewise remain intact at nearly 40%. 

Bitcoin 1-day price chart

Bitcoin 1-day price chart. Source: Coin360

Last week, veteran trader Tone Vays said that $9,500 would represent an ideal range in which to acquire long positions.

Bulls stay strong on long-term gains

Short-term volatility meanwhile failed to faze some of the industry’s best-known bulls. Speaking in an interview over the weekend, TV host Max Keiser said that he had “officially” raised his BTC/USD outlook for the first time since 2012. 

Now, he said, Bitcoin would not stop at $100,000, but instead, reach four times that amount — $400,000.

Current levels nonetheless mean Bitcoin is frontrunning technical expectations for its average price prior to the May 2020 block reward halving. 

According to calculations using the historically accurate stock-to-flow model, the cryptocurrency should trade at an average of $8,600 until May.

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