Bitcoin (BTC) divided traders yet again on Dec. 21 as sideways BTC price action split opinion on the future.

BTC/USD 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView

$17,500 becomes popular BTC price target

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView followed BTC/USD as it acted within a tight range just below $17,000.

A single brief spike above the $17,000 mark failed to last, the pair returning to familiar territory from the past week.

For popular traders, there was a lack of consensus, with some calling for an eventual breakout to the upside and others demanding a rapid fall toward $10,000.

“I’d want it to hold $16.7K in order to see continuation on Bitcoin,” Michaël van de Poppe, founder and CEO of trading firm Eight, told Twitter followers on Dec. 20: