Bitcoin is back below $40,000 as the general sentiment in the market seems to turn pessimistic. The first crypto by market cap has been unable to climb back to the $50,000 area and has been moving in a tight range around its current levels.

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Negative predictions for Bitcoin and other larger cryptocurrencies are increasing. The uncertainty around the war between Ukraine and Russia, and the U.S. Federal Reserve (FED) hike in interest rates seem to be the two main catalysts for the weakness in the global market.

Legendary trader Peter Brandt seems to favor the short-term bearish thesis. Pseudonym users shared a Bitcoin price prediction with Brandt which suggest the cryptocurrency could revisit critical areas of support below $30,000.

This could BTC’s price to $28,000 or $27,000 as soon as May or June this year. This prediction matches that of BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes. He expects BTC and ETH to crash to $30,000 and $2,000, respectively.

As seen below, in the chart presented to Brandt, Bitcoin would drop to its support zone before resuming its bullish momentum into uncharted territory. In the months after that, the first crypto by market cap could rise by about $100,000. Brandt said:

Very possible. This has been my guess for many months. We will see.

Source: @CrypoFuture via Twitter

The crypto market is currently correlated with traditional finances. The price of Bitcoin has been moving in tandem with the Nasdaq 100.

When big tech stocks show weakness, so does the price of BTC. In that sense, the bearish thesis could find more support in the following chart.

Source: Peter Brandt via Twitter

Shared by Brandt, it suggests a bigger drop in big tech equities which could impact the price of Bitcoin and put additional selling pressure on the crypto market.

Bitcoin Could See Short Term Relief

However, traders should take any prediction with a grain of salt especially coming from Brandt or Hayes. They can change their opinions and forecasts if the market conditions support them.

For my uninitiated followers on TwitterI’m guided by following principles as chart trader-Strong opinions, weakly held -Flexible, not dogmatic about anything-An opinion is not a position, a position is not an opinion-A chart is not necessarily my opinion https://t.co/WwfqyYgx3O

— Peter Brandt (@PeterLBrandt) April 22, 2022

In the short term, Bitcoin has managed to stay at its current levels despite the increase in selling pressure. Data from Material Indicators shows important support below the price.

There are over $33 million in bid orders from $39,000 to $38,000 which suggest BTC could bounce back from here in case of future downside price action. To the upside, $41,500 stands as the potential biggest resistance with around $8 million in asks orders.

BTC moving sideways on the 4-hour chart. Source: BTCUSD Tradingview

Related Reading | Bitcoin Follows US Stock Dive, Experts Predict $37,500 Price Level

As NewsBTC reported, the options market is positioning for a potential crash. There has been an uptick in calls selling for May and June and an increase in demand for put options. In other words, traders are getting bearish.