Buyers have so far failed to initiate a trend-following move northward after Bitcoin hit a new yearly high of $31,413. Although bulls fended off the sell-off last Friday as the SEC expressed concerns about Bitcoin spot ETF approval, the momentum seems to be flattening out, doesn’t it?

What's Next for Bitcoin Price?

As the market awaits the approval of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), investors appear to be cautious. While open interest in the Bitcoin futures market continues to rise, activity in the spot market has declined recently.

This shift suggests that price action in recent days has been driven primarily by futures traders. Analyst @52Skew noted on Twitter, “BTC Spot CVD & Delta USD: Quite a lot of spot still dumping on the market + infinite chase from coinbase buyers today. Spot bid liquidity $30,500.”

This observation highlights the reluctance of spot market investors who may be waiting for the SEC to take decisive action. However, it is worth noting that the US market was closed yesterday for the July 4th holiday. Recently, large spot buying volume from Coinbase has driven the market higher. Therefore, it will be worth watching today whether US investors buy yesterday's pullback today.

Bitcoin’s dominance, which had risen to resistance at 52.15%, has now consolidated, falling to 51.25%. This consolidation, coupled with investors entering the altcoin space, reinforces the general wait-and-see attitude of investors.

Analyzing the Bitcoin price, it is clear that the market is currently facing stiff resistance in the $31,300 to $31,416 range. The $30,700 support area is currently proving to be a key point to watch. Staying above this support could give buyers an opportunity for a fresh attack.

If Bitcoin price is able to dynamically break above its year-to-date high, the next major chart hurdle is at $32,500. However, a temporary retracement to the $29,800 support area might be acceptable in order to gain momentum for the next breakout attempt.

So far, there has been a lack of follow-through from the bears. In recent days, sellers have attempted to dump BTC price back below the important psychological level of $30,000 on higher timeframes, but have also failed. The goal of the bears must be to permanently push Bitcoin below $29,800.

Experts are still bullish

Well-known analyst Josh Rager believes that the pullback will not be as severe as many experts expect, which shows that ETF approval (especially from BlackRock) is a real possibility. He said, "It will only be painful if the ETF is rejected, but I think BlackRock will get approval this time," adding:

The upside sentiment towards $24,000 seems to be quite popular. I think people are overthinking it. A similar argument is that Bitcoin needs to sweep $20,000 first. IMO, the pullback won’t be that deep now and if we can see $25,000 again, more upside won’t happen until later in the year.

Likewise, NewsBTC chief analyst Tony “The Bull” believes that BTC is bullish in the near term. However, he stressed the importance of Bitcoin’s relative strength index (RSI) entering the overbought region, as a failure to do so could indicate a lack of strong upside momentum:

I would like to see the Bitcoin RSI move into overbought conditions before the weekend, otherwise I am concerned this is not an impulsive move yet. There is a doji on the weekly, which suggests indecision. We need to see follow-through this week, otherwise more corrections are more likely and a possible bearish divergence is on the horizon.