Bitcoin (BTC) headed toward a key Wyckoff level on Tuesday as BTC price action got traders excited about an altcoin surge.

BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView

Wyckoff in focus below $36,000

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD trading up 4.6% versus the previous day’s lows on Tuesday.

After seeing tests of $33,000 support, bulls won out overnight, sending Bitcoin higher. Now, a key area to watch is $36,000, popular analyst Rekt Capital said.

According to Wyckoff analysis, a popular method for charting BTC price action, $36,000 marks the likely end of a “phase C” and the beginning of a “phase D” for BTC/USD — with trajectory favoring the upside.

“BTC dips to the ~$33000 area and holds the orange Higher Low perfectly,” Rekt Capital commented alongside a chart on the day.

“According to the Wyckoff Accumulation Schematic, $BTC is now in the very final stages of Phase C. $BTC needs to break past $36000 to enter Phase D.”
BTC/USD Wyckoff scenario as of July 6. Source: Rekt Capital/Twitter

As Cointelegraph reported, potential higher targets currently include an unfilled CME futures gap above $46,500. This would be a significant move if it were to happen, as Bitcoin would effectively exit a trading range, in which it has been sitting for multiple weeks.

Trader Filbfilb offered a more sobering view. Bears, he warned, were still in command of levels that have attracted the highest volumes — to so-called “point of control” or POC.

“Trend remains down,” he summarized on Monday before the bounce higher.

“Bears dominating the POC / middle of the range. It is what it is until the POC becomes support.”
BTC/USD 1-day annotated candle chart. Source: Filbfilb/Twitter

Bitcoin vs. altcoins in a game of grinding

Conditions, meanwhile, may be right for altcoins to benefit more than Bitcoin in the mid term. 

Related: Ethereum price can gain 40% on Bitcoin, argues analyst as London fork nears

In an atmosphere in which cryptocurrencies broadly “grind up” rather than shoot higher, it may be more than just BTC/USD that forms a point of interest, trader Michaël van de Poppe argued.

“Most likely expectation is that altcoins will be grinding up way heavier than Bitcoin in the coming period,” he told Twitter followers on Tuesday.

“They looked great and got destroyed through that final drop of Bitcoin to $30K. Therefore, I’m expecting them to continue outperforming #Bitcoin in the coming months.”

Some of the top 50 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization woke up overnight, seeing gains that topped 10%. Ether (ETH), the largest altcoin, traded up 3% at $2,340. Meanwhile, many decentralized finance tokens were the standouts over the past 24 hours, namely SUSHI and Aave, which rallied by roughly 20%.