Bitcoin price is up over 4% and it broke the $18,500 level against the US Dollar. BTC is currently following a nice bullish path, but the $18,800 level is a strong resistance.

• Bitcoin is slowly rising and it broke the key $18,500 resistance.
• The price traded as high as $18,559 and it is now above the 100 hourly simple moving average.
• There is a major rising channel forming with support near $18,280 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair (data feed from Kraken).
• The bulls are likely to face a strong resistance near the $18,800 zone.

Bitcoin Price is Approaching a Major Hurdle

In the weekly analysis, we saw a fresh increase in bitcoin price above the $18,000 level. BTC extended its rise above the $18,200 and $18,400 resistance levels.

There was also a break above the $18,500 resistance. The price traded as high as $18,559 and it is now above the 100 hourly simple moving average. It is currently consolidating gains and trading near the $18,450 level.

An initial support on the downside is near the $18,400 level. It is close to the 23.6% Fib retracement level of the recent rise from the $17,946 swing low to $18,559 high. Moreover, there is a major rising channel forming with support near $18,280 on the hourly chart of the BTC/USD pair.

Source: BTCUSD on TradingView.com

The channel support is close to the 50% Fib retracement level of the recent rise from the $17,946 swing low to $18,559 high. On the upside, the channel resistance at $18,650 is a short-term resistance.

The first major resistance for the bulls is near the $18,800 level. A successful break above the $18,800 level could spark a strong upward move, and bitcoin could rise above $19,000 and even $19,200.

Another Drop in BTC?

If bitcoin fails to clear the breakout resistance at $18,800, there is a risk of a fresh decline. An initial support on the downside is near the $18,250 level or the channel lower trend line.

A clear break below the channel support might start an extended decline towards $18,000. The next major support below the $18,000 level is near the $17,400 level and the 100 hourly simple moving average.

Technical indicators:

Hourly MACD – The MACD is now gaining momentum in the bullish zone.

Hourly RSI (Relative Strength Index) – The RSI for BTC/USD is currently well above the 60 level, with bullish signs.

Major Support Levels – $18,250, followed by $18,000.

Major Resistance Levels – $18,650, $18,800 and $19,000.