Bitcoin staged and impressive performance rising about 10% over the last seven days, but bulls appear to have been stoppped by stiff resistance from the $52,000 level. However, the technical setup points to a possible upswing to $65,000.

Let's find out how.

BTC bulls should hold above $52,000 to sustain the uptrend

After rising above $52,000 on Feb. 16, BTC has see-sawed around this area, suggesting supplier congestion around this area.

Data from market intelligence firm IntoTheBlock shows that a total of 273,000 BTC were previously bought by 933 addresses. These addresses may sell at the current prices in an attempt to break even. This would add to the sell-side pressure that could plunge Bitcoin price in a prehalving sell-off.

Bitcoin IOMAP chart. Source: IntoTheBlock

The IOMAP chart above also shows that about a third of the BTC addresses are in loss. These are about 1.82 million addresses. These investors are likely to push the higher to a ensure that they get profits on their investment.

Is Bitcoin's bull flag a sign of things to come?

After rising 24% from $42,280 to $52,868 between Feb. 5 and Feb. 16, Bitcoin has retraced slightly recording a series of lower highs and lower lows. This has led to the appearance of a bullish flag pattern on the daily chart.

This chart formation signals the continuation of the uptrend and is confirmed once the price closes above the flag's upper limit. The projected upswing is equal to the rapid rise before the retrace.

At the time of writing, BTC was trading at the flag's upper limit around $52,400. A daily candlestic close abive this would confirm a bullish breakout from the governing chart pattern.

The lines of resistance would emerge from the $55,000 and $60,000 psychological level. Overcoming these barriers would see BTC rise to reach the optimistic target of the pattern at $65,640. This would bring the total gains to 27%.

BTC/USD daily chart. Source: TradingView

Apart from the bullish chart pattern, BTC's upside was validated by the up-facing moving averages. These MAs also provided dynamic support areas on the downside.

The relative strength index (RSI) was in the overbought region, validating the buyers dominance in the market. The priec strength at 79 suggests that there is still more room for the upside.

On the downside, a daily candlestick close below $51,680 would affirm the stiffness of the barrier at $52,000 with BTC dropping to see solace from the lower boundary of the flag at $50,000. A drop to $45,000 would be possible in the medium term before an uptrend begins.