Bitcoin Struggles to Build Momentum After Defense of $7.4K Price Support

View Bitcoin is struggling to produce a stronger price bounce, despite the defense of the 4-hour chart's 200-candle moving average - a sign of buyer exhaustion.

The daily chart continues to call a move lower to the 50-day price average, currently at $6,861.

A key technical line applied the brakes to bitcoin's price sell-off earlier this week, but so far the bounce has been shallow, with upside capped around $7,900.

The leading cryptocurrency by market value began the week on a negative note with prices dropping 7 percent on Monday.

The drop below the widely followed 4-hour chart's 200-candle moving average, then located at $7,970, was short-lived, with prices recovering to $7,900 by the early European trading hours on Wednesday.

Further, the price recovery seems to have taken the shape of a bearish continuation pattern on short duration technical charts.

Prices may end up falling back to the 200 candle MA support, currently at $7,568.

What's more, prices closed below the crucial 30-day MA on Tuesday, confirming a bearish reversal and have struggled to post big gains above the former support-turned-resistance ever since.

The drop to toward the 50-day MA could be preceded by a rally to the $8,200-$8,300 range - that's if the 4-hour chart 200-candle MA at $7,568 again holds ground and fuels a price bounce above $8,000.

Bitcoin image via CoinDesk Archives; charts by Trading View.