Bitcoin slipped below $81,000 on Oct. 16 amid heightened market volatility, but analysts remained cautiously optimistic, suggesting a potential local bottom.
Key Takeaways
- Bitcoin fell below $81,000 on Oct. 16 as tech stocks and oil price gains weighed on crypto markets.
- Coinglass reported market-wide liquidations fell to $290 million, down sharply from $929 million a day prior.
- Glassnode and Rand Group noted signals indicating bitcoin may have established a local floor near $80,000.
Bitcoin Dips Below $81,000 After Midweek Reversal
Bitcoin lost the $82,000 threshold Friday, roughly 24 hours after reversing a downtrend that saw the cryptocurrency dip below $80,000 for the first time in weeks. The decline came amid rising oil prices and a sell-off in tech stocks, particularly companies tied to artificial intelligence hardware and infrastructure.
Before a sell-off that started around 7:30 a.m. EST, bitcoin’s price fluctuated between $82,000 and $82,500, with each attempt to break either level sparking further selling or a rally. This pattern continued until an hour before midnight, when the price fell to $81,700 for the first time in the session.
After consolidating between $82,000 and $82,250 during the early hours of Oct. 16, bitcoin briefly dropped under $81,700. A sharp rally followed, pushing the price to a peak of $82,813, before a rapid reversal pulled it back under $81,700 roughly two hours later.
The volatile price action repeated, but bitcoin failed to breach $82,500 and instead dropped sharply to $81,180. By 1:35 p.m., after a brief dip below the $81,000 level, the price hovered near $81,300, leaving bitcoin down more than 1% for the day.
Analysts Point to Potential Bottom Signals
Despite the short-term pullback, several market observers shared potential bottom signals. Blockchain analytics firm Glassnode observed that bitcoin sellers capitulated again Thursday, noting that recent bursts of loss-taking coincided directly with local bottoms in early August, mid-August, and mid-September. With profit-taking slowing since the September peak, Glassnode suggested that if the pattern holds, Thursday’s selling just above $80,000 could mark the local price floor.
Similarly, investment research firm Rand Group noted in a post on X Friday that a key technical indicator, the Bitcoin Market Value to Realized Value (MVRV) Momentum Oscillator, turned positive. According to Rand Group, the metric “printed again at $83K,” marking a signal that historically called every previous bitcoin cycle bottom.
Meanwhile, because bitcoin remained largely within the $81,500-to-$82,500 range during the session, forced liquidations across both long and short leveraged positions were markedly lower over the 24-hour period. Coinglass data showed total bitcoin liquidations were capped just above $56 million, down from $214 million the previous day. Total liquidations across the broader crypto market fell to $290 million, compared with $929 million during the same timeframe a day earlier.