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Bitcoin (BTC) sought to end the week above $23,000 into the Feb. 26 close as concerns heightened over stubborn resistance.

BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView

BTC price bulls keep faith in $30,000

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD reaching $23,318 on the day, up $600 from its weekend lows.

The latest move marked a modest comeback after a grim week for risk assets which saw United States equities suffer thanks to above-expected inflation data.

Despite that, Bitcoin still remained below levels flagged by analysts as important to reclaim before the end of the month.

Only isolated voices remained optimistic, these including popular trader Kaleo, who maintained that $30,000 remained a BTC price “magnet.”

Crypto trader Altcoin Sherpa meanwhile offered a reference period for hitting the $30,000 mark — “4-6 weeks.”

“$BTC is still in a transition phase from bear -> bull , up only begins once the neckline is broke!” fellow trader and analyst Mags continued in part of a further summary.

BTC/USD annotated chart. Source: Mags/ Twitter

Bloomberg analyst on Bitcoin: “Trend remains downward”

Also looking ahead, meanwhile, Mike McGlone, senior macro strategist at Bloomberg Intelligence, voiced misgivings about bulls’ ability to overcome the $25,000 resistance zone.

Related: Bitcoin eyes 25% of world’s wealth in new $10M BTC price prediction

“Headwinds Remain Strong; Markets Have Bounced – ‘Don’t fight the Fed’ was the dominant headwind for markets in 2022, and remains so in 1Q,” he wrote in a Twitter summary of new research.

“Bitcoin $25,000 resistance may prove significant for all risk assets.”

The research itself predicted that “the more tactically orientated are likely to focus on responsive selling” when it comes to BTC/USD, while it “may be a while before buy-and-hold types gain the upper hand.”

The week prior, hopes remained high that $25,000 would not pose a major hurdle and that BTC/USD would be able to dispatch it without too much effort.

In the event, however, the magnitude of the task became apparent — in addition to asks on exchange order books, key moving averages (MAs) lay above, notably Bitcoin’s 50-week and 200-week trend lines.

The declining 50-week MA itself led McGlone to conclude that “the trend remains downward.”

BTC/USD 1-week candle chart (Bitstamp) with 50, 200 MA. Source: TradingView

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