Bitcoin price has been sealed in a range stretching from $50,650 to $53,026 since  Feb. 15. This shows decreasing price volatility, with the price barely moving on the weekly timeframe.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading at $51,482, down 0.34% over the last 24 hours and 1.3% over the week.

BTC, however, remains bullish on the longer timeframes with 22% and 121% monthly and yearly gains, respectively.

With the upcoming halving event and the increasing inflow into spot Bitcoin ETFs, traders expect Bitcoin to lead the market in a bull run in 2024, with the possibility of peaking in 2025.

To achieve this, the BTC price has to first overcome the barrier at $52,000.

Bitcoin faces stiff resistance at $52,000

After rising above the $52,000 mark on Feb. 15, the Bitcoin price has been oscillating around this area. This price has failed to produce a decisive breakout above this area, suggesting that both the buyers and the sellers are aggressively defending this area.

Popular crypto analyst Ali spotted BTC trading between two significant zones with several key areas to watch on both sides. He posted the following IOMAP chart from IntoTheBlock on X social media platform, saying, "The first zone, serving as support, spans from $50,000 to $51,570, where approximately 1.3 million addresses are holding onto 670,220 $BTC."

Ali also highlighted a "second zone, acting as resistance, is between $51,640 and $53,200, with 752,600 addresses holding 351,600 #BTC."

Bitcoin IOMAP chart. Source: IntoTheBlock

According to the analyst, Bitcoin was required to break through the resistance to secure a recovery of $57,000. But if the support gives in, "a correction towards $47,700 could be on the horizon."

Bitcoin price paints overbought conditions

BTC has painted a series of lower highs after rising to a multi-year high above $53,000, as shown in the chart below. The 26% rally from 42,000 resulted in overbought conditions when the RSI had a value of 82 on Feb. 16.

These overbought conditions resulted in profit booking as buyer exhaustion set in. The price has since dropped 3% from the highs at $53.026, and bears appear determined to push it lower.

If the selling continues, BTC may drop from the current price toward the $50,680 level, embraced by the 78.6% Fibonacci retracement level. More support lines would emerge from the $50,000 psychological level, the $48,000 level and the 50% retracement level at $47,500. 

BTC/USD daily chart. Source: TradingView

On the upside, the value of the RSI at 66 in the positive region suggested that the buyers were still dominating the market.

These buyers could push the price first above the $52,000 barrier and later to the 26-month high at $53,026. Higher than that, the big crypto could make a run for the psychological levels at $55,000 and $60,000.