Bitcoin on Friday erased all of its gains from a winning week after the first-ever spot trading funds on a Bitcoin exchange were liquidated to begin trading in the United States. ETFs are widely viewed as positive long-term price catalysts for Bitcoin. As familiar and regulated investment vehicles, they will help attract new capital into the flagship cryptocurrency, causing demand to rise while supply remains constant, as stipulated in the Bitcoin code. Many investors and analysts have expressed confidence that Bitcoin could reach or even surpass its all-time high of $69,000. However, before that happens, Bitcoin may see further declines. “(Thursday’s) rejection of $48,000 is a notable sign of a March 2022 peak,” Ari Wald, senior analyst at Oppenheimer, told CNBC. “I can’t help but think that a sell-off scenario is developing with the launch of Bitcoin ETFs… and a reversal at resistance could be seen as a contrarian signal to a drawdown.” Huge Unrealized Gains Many expected the long-awaited Bitcoin ETF approvals to be a selling news event. Investors and miners were riding high on unrealized gains as the ETF narrative sent Bitcoin soaring more than 60% in the past three months. Bitcoin fell more than 5% on Friday to $43,858.23, according to Coin Metrics. The current support level is $43,000, according to Wald. BTC.CM = One-year line of Bitcoin’s one-year performance according to currency metrics. He said $40,000, a level Bitcoin has not seen since early December, would be another potential stopping point. Julius de Kempenaer, a senior technical analyst at StockCharts.com, has his eye on a slightly higher support level at $45,000. Wald also pointed to the daily Relative Strength Index, a momentum indicator that measures the speed and variability of price movements, which recently showed that a Bitcoin pullback could be on the horizon. An RSI reading of 70 and above indicates that the asset is overbought, while a reading of 30 indicates oversold. “While Bitcoin price is coming off new cycle highs, the RSI made a lower high and was unable to surpass the 70 level,” Wald said. “We think this is another indicator that the price needs a break.” There could be a new record on the horizon, and both Wald and De Kempeneer said that Bitcoin’s overall uptrend remains intact, however, and could carry the cryptocurrency to a new record high this year. “Once the resistance area near $48,000 opens up, that will set the stage for a continuation of the rally, and an all-time high near $69,000 will almost certainly emerge on the horizon,” De Kempeneer said. Bitcoin reached an all-time high near $69,000 in November 2021. Rob Ginsberg of Wolfe Research agreed. “The price is not overbought yet, so I can see it working higher into the heavy resistance area between $48,000 and $50,000 in the near term,” Ginsberg said. “This is where the real work begins, but I expect it will eventually begin after some digestion and backfilling.” “Once out, the November 2021 highs of $69,000 will be activated,” he added.