[DigitalToday reporter Yoonseo Lee (이윤서)] As bitcoin enters a breather around $80,000 after a short-term rebound, a chart analysis suggests it could revisit the low-$70,000s once more before rising further into the $90,000 range.

The Crypto Basic, a blockchain outlet, reported on Sept. 17 (local time) that bitcoin’s long-term chart currently resembles the rebound, sideways trading, liquidity sweep and renewed climb seen before a key 2023 rally.

The key point is that the current phase is closer to testing the trading range formed after a sharp drop than to the start of a full-fledged uptrend. On the chart, bitcoin plunged after peaking around $124,000 to $126,000 on Oct. 10, 2025, falling to the low-$60,000s. The deepest wick slipped to around $56,000.

The chart’s current key price zones are relatively clear. On the downside, $56,000 to $64,000 is set as the lower extreme, with $70,000 to $72,000 marked as the next major support area. On the upside, $80,000 to $84,000 is the resistance zone, and the next expansion range after a break is presented as the mid-to-late $90,000s.

The analysis puts weight on similarities with the 2023 structure. At the time, bitcoin bottomed around $16,000 and first rebounded to $24,000, then approached $30,000 to $31,000 but failed to immediately extend the trend. After being pushed back into the $24,000 to $25,000 range, it rose again and eventually climbed into the $60,000 to $70,000 zone. The analysis says a similar path is possible now, with a rebound first, followed by a check of the range top and a readjustment before the next rise.

Projected levels shown on the chart are the high-$80,000s, low-$70,000s, high-$90,000s, low-$80,000s and the $120,000 range. It adds these are not a completed price move but an expected path indicated by the chart. Even if the price falls to the low-$70,000s, it would still remain above the $56,000 rebound low, meaning a higher low would be maintained in structural terms.

Short-term candlestick action also supports that interpretation. In the most recent five candles, selling pressure around $63,000 to $65,000 shifted sharply into a rebound, followed by a large bullish candle that quickly lifted the price to around $77,000 to $80,000. The next candles had smaller bodies, and upper wicks appeared around $80,000 to $82,000. That indicates the price traded higher intraday but failed to hold those levels.

As a result, the short-term structure can be summed up as price compression continuing below $80,000 to $84,000 after a strong rebound. It suggests that, as in 2023, the price may first break above or test the top of the range and then turn back toward the lower end. Such movement aligns with a scenario in which price activity forms on both sides of the set range before direction is decided.

From a Wyckoff perspective, the decline from around $124,000 to the $56,000 to $64,000 area corresponds to a markdown phase. The sideways movement between the low-$60,000s and low-$80,000s that followed is closer to forming or testing a trading range than to resuming an uptrend.

Ultimately, the area the market must check now is whether it breaks through the $80,000 to $84,000 resistance and extends higher, or instead first drops into the $70,000 to $72,000 area to form a higher low. Depending on what follows, the plausibility of scenarios involving a return to the $90,000s and a renewed challenge of the $120,000 range is expected to be weighed.