'Old School' Charting Still Works for Bitcoin, Brandt Says

Veteran trader Peter Brandt believes that classical chart analysis remains just as effective in Bitcoin as it was in traditional commodity markets nearly half a century ago.

In a recent post on X, Brandt compared a soybean chart from 1977 with a Bitcoin chart from last year.

He has argued that the same technical formation has repeated itself across completely different markets and eras.

“The more things change, the more they stay the same. Old school works,” Brandt said in a recent social media post.

A broadening top

The charts show what a broadening top. In both examples, prices initially move higher while volatility steadily increases. As a result, successive highs become higher and successive lows become lower. The trading range expands, creating a megaphone-like shape (this shows the disagreement between buyers and sellers).

When it comes to the soybean trade, prices eventually broke below the lower trendline of the expanding formation.

The Bitcoin chart follows a remarkably similar sequence. After forming an expanding top near the cycle highs in late 2025, $BTC broke below support and entered a prolonged correction.

A new low in October?

Earlier this summer, Brandt maintained that Bitcoin had reached his initial downside target but warned that a lasting bottom had probably not formed yet.

“As I see it, Bitcoin has met its initial target at the February low. This does not mean $BTC cannot work lower or have a terminal wash-out. I do not see a tradable low until October,” he wrote in early June.

Brandt has recently opined that gold could outperform the leading cryptocurrency over the near term.

Earlier this month, the veteran trader said he was considering selling part of his Bitcoin holdings in favor of gold, arguing that the precious metal appeared poised to outperform $BTC based on the XAU/$BTC ratio.

Most recently, he recalled that his biggest mistake was “not buying and holding a load” when $BTC was trading at just $400.