Bitcoin Order-Book Liquidity Battle Pushes BTC Price to $86.8K
Bitcoin buyers broke through a wall of sell-side liquidity, driving BTC to fresh October highs near $87,800, while the area immediately above has emerged as a new resistance level.
Bitcoin (BTC) approached $87,000 on Friday as short liquidations on BTC exceeded $120 million over a 24-hour period.
• Bitcoin pushed through sell orders near $85,000, reaching $86,857, its highest price since Sept. 23.
• CoinGlass’s heatmap showed a concentration of potential liquidations above $87,000 after the breakout.
• Glassnode said stronger Bitcoin ETF inflows would help confirm broader support for the BTC price uptrend.
Bitcoin buyers battle liquidity walls below $87,000
TradingView data showed BTC/USD reaching $86,857 on Bitstamp before retreating below $86,000.
BTC/USD four-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
The move, which marked Bitcoin’s highest price since Sept. 23, came after fresh shifts in exchange order-book liquidity. Sell orders concentrated around $85,000 had kept price action rangebound throughout the week, but buyers broke through that barrier, according to data from onchain analytics platform Glassnode.
“With reduced ask liquidity above, this should allow price to move up faster,” it wrote on X, adding that the remaining sell orders “seem to have been removed.”
BTC/USDT liquidation heatmap (Binance). Source: Glassnode
Earlier in the week, Cointelegraph reported that more than $30 million in sell orders had emerged around $85,700. CoinGlass data showed a cluster of potential liquidations above $87,300 after the initial breakout, indicating that liquidation exposure was becoming concentrated at higher price levels.
BTC liquidation heatmap (all exchanges). Source: CoinGlass
BTC short liquidations totaled $122 million over the 24 hours to the time of writing, while the total across crypto assets reached $210 million.
ETF inflows decline after 11-month record
The area around $86,000 remains significant, representing the aggregate breakeven zone for investors in US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
In the latest edition of its regular newsletter, The Week Onchain, Glassnode said that a sustained breakout accompanied by higher trading volume and renewed ETF inflows would confirm broader support for Bitcoin’s uptrend.
Daily flows have cooled since Sept. 21, when the daily total reached its highest level in almost a year at $999 million.
“The funds are still buying, but at a small fraction of the pace of those two days. A return to inflows near that pace would be the clearest sign of renewed ETF demand,” it wrote.
US spot Bitcoin ETF netflows through Sept. 30. Source: Glassnode
On Oct. 1, US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded net inflows of $102.7 million, according to Farside Investors. The largest fund, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), attracted $195 million, while outflows from several other funds reduced the overall daily total.