Another week has passed as bitcoin continues to coil in a tighter and tighter consolidation. Both price and volume continue to consolidate as bitcoin decides where the next major move will be. A trend of higher lows and lower highs shows a balance of both supply and demand, but ultimately one will win out:Figure 1: BTC-USD, Daily Candles, Macro ConsolidationTo gain a perspective of *just* how tightly wound the market is, a great tool analysts often use are Bollinger Bands (bbands). Bbands are a visual representation of forecasted volatility. If the bands are squeezing, there is a forecast for increased volatility in the future. Conversely, if the bands have already expanded and are beginning to round/bulge, there is a forecast for decreased volatility. In our case, on the weekly candles, the bands are squeezing tighter than they have in several years:Figure 2: BTC-USD, Weekly Candles, Bollinger Band SqueezeDuring the bull run, we could see a very clear trend of support being found on the bband midline for several years. However, at the beginning of our bear market, the midline has continuously proven itself to become resistant to every single rally over the last few months. However, as the price begins to consolidate further and further, the midline has drawn itself within striking distance, while the price trend has established a series of higher lows.Even though a breakout has yet to happen, there are...
