$8K dive or $22K rebound? Bitcoin traders anticipate Q1 BTC price action

Bitcoin (BTC) is approaching the end of 2022 at levels not seen in over two years — what do traders think will happen next?

BTC price reeling from USD strength

Currently down 15% in Q4 and over 60% year-to-date, BTC/USD has few bullish allies as 2023 looms.

Struggling to recover from the ongoing FTX scandal and associated fallout, the largest cryptocurrency giving back all the gains seen since late 2020 is indicative of the crypto market as a whole.

Risk assets are in a precious position themselves, as Cointelegraph reported, while eyes are also on the strength of the U.S. dollar going into the new year.

Cointelegraph takes a look at the diverging opinions among some popular traders when it comes to what BTC price action could do in Q1, 2023.

Crypto Tony: Short with daily range low target

One market participant taking no chances on the last day of trading on Wall Street is Crypto Tony.

Having warned that a trip to as low as $8,000 could be imminent for Bitcoin, on Dec. 30, a fresh chart showed just how weak price action currently is.

On daily timeframes, BTC/USD is back below the equilibrium price (EQ) of a range in place since FTX began, this no longer holding as support.

A failed breakout at the range high means that the most likely target is now the range low at closer to $15,500.

“I remain short and am looking for the push down into the range low as highlighted,” Crypto Tony wrote in accompanying comments.

Cred: Reclaim $19,000 zone to change trend

For fellow trader Cred, it is also all about the range when it comes to how Bitcoin might behave in future.

In a video update on Dec. 29, Cred identified monthly and weekly support at $14,000 and $12,000, respectively.

“With that said, if we’re not at these levels, what can we look for? If you don’t want to get to support, you could always show me a failed breakdown from support as a bullish argument,” he said.

An area around $18-19,000, broken through thanks to FTX in November, could thus still become a target to reclaim, leaving subsequent weeks’ price action as such a “failed breakdown.”

On weekly timeframes, however, BTC/USD is currently trading in an insignificant zone which is “not anywhere,” Cred added.

Kaleo: Strong attraction to $22,000 in Q1

A more optimistic take on what could happen in Q1 as a whole comes from popular Twitter account Kaleo.

Related: Bitcoin price would surge past $600K if ‘hardest asset’ matches gold

In a prediction released on Dec. 30, Kaleo showed a bottoming sequence underway on BTC/USD, with next quarter supplying a clear upside price target.

The area around $22,000, he suggested, would act like a magnet for price, based on swing highs for the 8-hour chart stretching back several months.

By contrast, lower lows did not feature in the outlook.

“This is what you have to look forward to in early 2023,” Kaleo commented.

The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the authors’ alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.