Bitcoin’s retreat to a key technical floor on Friday signalled growing pressure on the cryptocurrency as equity markets grappled with unexpected leadership turmoil at chip giant Nvidia. The decline marked a critical test of support that has historically anchored Bitcoin’s cycle lows.
According to reporting by CoinTelegraph, Bitcoin fell to $67,500 on Friday, testing its 200-week simple moving average at $67,993 — the first interaction with this trend line in nearly 11 weeks. The move caught the attention of technical analysts, who view the level as a historically significant waypoint during bear markets.
The 200-Week Average as a Market Anchor
The 200-week simple moving average has long served as a psychological and technical reference point in Bitcoin’s cycles. Traders use it to gauge whether the market is entering genuinely bearish territory or merely consolidating. Bitcoin traded around this level from March through October 2023, and again from June to mid-August this year. Each time the asset has decisively moved above it on the weekly chart, sharper rallies have followed.
“The 200-week SMA has acted as both support and resistance during Bitcoin’s bear markets,” Keith Alan, cofounder of crypto trading platform Material Indicators, wrote in analysis released Friday. This dual role makes it especially important during periods of uncertainty.
Warning Signs in the Relative Strength Index
What concerns Alan and other technicians is that Bitcoin’s weekly relative strength index has returned to 41.5 — a support level it established in late July. The RSI, which measures momentum, has spent recent weeks attempting to break above this threshold.
“Losing 41.5 on weekly RSI opens the door to test the cycle low at $57.7k,” Alan said Friday on X. That represents a potential 14% downside from Friday’s low. The convergence of the 200-week moving average with this RSI level creates what traders call “confluence” — multiple technical signals pointing in the same direction, which typically strengthens the case for further weakness if support breaks.
Conversely, Alan noted that defending this zone would carry bullish implications for Bitcoin’s near-term trajectory.
Nvidia Turmoil Sends Ripples Through Risk Assets
Bitcoin’s Friday decline accelerated alongside a broader selloff in technology stocks sparked by Jensen Huang’s unexpected resignation as Nvidia CEO. Asian markets bore the brunt of the reaction. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 1.55%, while South Korea’s KOSPI Composite fell 0.98%.
US equity futures also rolled over. The Nasdaq 100 fell 0.2% as investors reassessed the artificial intelligence trade that had driven much of recent market strength. Market observers detected a rotation away from Nvidia toward rival chip designers, on the theory that competition could accelerate innovation across the sector.
“What you’re seeing in markets now is a bit of a rotation into other advanced chip design companies, on the assumption that this will enable other companies effectively to catch up,” Mark Franklin, head of multi-asset solutions for Asia at Manulife Investment Management, told CNBC.
Nvidia shares themselves held up better than the broader decline, rising 0.7% in pre-market trading Friday as internal company communications suggested growing employee support for Huang’s return. A post reportedly generated over 1,600 comments from staff.
What Comes Next
Bitcoin’s immediate fate depends on whether buyers step in to defend the 41.5 RSI level and the 200-week moving average. The next 48 hours will likely prove decisive. If support holds, analysts expect consolidation in the $67,500–$71,000 range. If it breaks, the $57,700 cycle low becomes a realistic target, though that outcome would require sustained selling pressure across both crypto and equities markets.