Bitcoin ( BTC ) faces major resistance, which is keeping the BTC price rebound below $60,000.

While recovering up to 6.2% from this week’s lows, BTC/USD has not managed to break through key trendlines, data from Cointelegraph markets Pro and TradingView confirms.

Moving average threatens BTC price "ordeal”

Bitcoin saw a 23% pullback from all-time highs through April and into May, and so far, the odds of a return to BTC price discovery remain low.

As Cointelegraph reported, Arthur Hayes, former CEO of crypto exchange BitMEX, expects rangebound trading below $70,000 to characterize BTC/USD through August.

First, however, $60,000 must be reclaimed, and so far, the trendlines guarding it are winning out over bulls.

On the radar is Bitcoin’s 100-day moving average (MA), currently at $59,930 as of May 3.

This trendline has acted as market support since October 2023 and provided a floor through the first half of 2023’s Bitcoin bull market.

Now, however, the price is printing full daily candles below it.

BTC/USD 1-day chart with 100 SMA. Source: TradingView

Commenting on the phenomenon, trading resource Material Indicators agreed that bulls were “running into strong technical resistance at the 100-Day MA.”

An accompanying chart showed one of Material Indicators’ proprietary trading tools flashing green on daily timeframes.

“Reclaiming the 100-Day Moving Average would be a big deal for Bitcoin Bulls that could lead to a short squeeze,” co-founder Keith Alan continued in a post on X.

“A rejection would be an ordeal.”

Bitcoin short-term holders underwater

Another BTC price hurdle to clear on the road to recovery is a classic bull market support line — the short-term holder realized price (STH-RP).

Related: Bitcoin price correction ‘very common’ if $56K lows hold — Peter Brandt

This refers to the aggregate cost basis of more speculative Bitcoin hodlers — wallets storing BTC for 155 days or less.

When the price returns to STH-RP — which occurred multiple times in recent weeks — it can act as solid support, as it did for much of the bull market since early 2023.

STH-RP sat at $59,684 on May 1, the latest date for which figures are available on the on-chain data resource Look Into Bitcoin .

Bitcoin STH-RP chart. Source: Look Into Bitcoin

The metric thus forms another key trendline concentrated within close proximity to $60,000.

In his latest X commentary, Caleb Franzen, CEO of Cubic Analysts, included STH-RP in his own selection of resistance levels to clear.

“My personal line in the sand for ‘risk-on’ is a daily close above $61k. Lots of work to do,” he concluded.

BTC/USD chart. Source: Caleb Franzen

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.