BTCUSD SURGES POST-SETTLEMENT AS Bulls Take Bitcoin Back Into The $360's

What a great settlement over at OKCoin. Look closely at the chart above, it's of the Quarterlies contract settling on Christmas Day (so mind the premium...): 9:00 is settlement, and RIGHT after, the price surged. This is no coincidence. Seasoned traders know the importance of OKCoin's weekly settlement time. There is a tendency for action to hit the market before and after this event, and can often serve as an inflection point for price changes and signify bigger moves for the weekend to come.

One thing is clear from today: when you see a nearly 5% move in the price occurring immediately to the minute after settlement on OKCoin futures, you need to pay attention to this weekly event. And then...

Over in the spot markets in China, that 2200 CNY level that we previously broke through is now serving as a sort of support, as we confidently pump into the 2300s.

Over at Bitfinex, the 12-hour candles give an interesting picture of just how sweet this breakout has been from that snoozefest of a week we had before:

Some nice fat green daily candles that woke up this sleeping beauty of our beloved bitcoin. We blew away the resistance there in the $340's and there's strong bullish sentiment reflected in the futures markets, as OKCoin Quarterlies are at a $20 premium:

Overall the sentiment is turning quite bullish. Volatility is back and it's here to stay for now, and after we have just broken a key resistence level on the 4-hour chart we could be breaking out big here. The weekend would allow for a perfect time to make a big move, as liquidity tends to be a bit lighter and the market is a bit more susceptible to being pushed around. So keep an eye out for some action here in the next few days.