Why traders think a Bitcoin 'blow-off top' will occur above $18,000

Bitcoin price is steamrolling toward $18,000, and excited traders are calling for the top-ranked digital asset to overtake the 2017 all-time high at $19,763.

In recent weeks, BTC has continuously surged higher without prolonged consolidation periods or any major dips.

Compared with historical uptrends, BTC has seen considerably smaller corrections.

"During the 2015-2017 bull market in Bitcoin $BTC, there were 9 significant corrections with the following averages: 37% decline from high to low. 14 weeks from one ATH to the next ATH. Since the early Sep low there have been two 10% corrections."

Since the Nov. 8 dip, the price of Bitcoin has increased from $14,344 to as high as $17,858 on Binance.

BTC saw a blow-off top after the 2017 peak.

In the next 52 days that followed, BTC dropped by almost 70%. Since Bitcoin is nearing price discovery above $20,000, traders expect BTC to see a fall before hitting $20,000.

Across major futures exchanges, the BTC futures funding rate is hovering at 0.01%. Futures exchanges in the cryptocurrency market use the mechanism called "Funding" to achieve balance among traders.

Ultimately, traders still expect Bitcoin will form a blow-off top as the price approaches $18,000.

Technical analysts noted that the recent BTC price cycle shows that each rally has been followed by shorter consolidation periods.