Bitcoin slid below $85,000 this week amid a wave of forced liquidations, losing several long-term moving-average supports and stoking debate over whether the latest rebound is sustainable or a pause before further downside. The sell-off leaves BTC on track for a fourth consecutive weekly decline and its lowest levels since April.
Break below long-term trend supports
Bitcoin closed below the 50-week moving average for the first time in the current four-year cycle after a failed attempt to reclaim that level. The rejection followed a brief bounce from the lower boundary of a multi-year price channel, after which the pattern broke down.
Structurally, BTC has slipped beneath the 2-day 200 EMA and SMA, breached the 50-week SMA, and lost a key confluence zone between $98,000 and $106,800 that traders had flagged for long-term Fibonacci overlap. Historically, a similar combination—a weekly close under the 50-week MA alongside an RSI drop below 50 and a MACD turn negative—preceded deeper weakness in January 2022.
Spot price lows reached roughly $81,800, leaving BTC well below its MA-20 (~$100,159), MA-50 (~$108,384), and MA-200 (~$110,345). BTC Markets strategist Rachael Lucas noted that Bitcoin is now approaching the 100-week simple moving average after failing to hold the 50-week level, calling the latter “a critical support level for long-term trend watchers.”
Liquidations turned a correction into a slide
Derivatives positioning amplified the move. As price fell through psychological thresholds at $100,000 and $90,000, a 13-day stretch of forced long liquidations removed bids and triggered cascading selling, accelerating the decline from around $105,000 into the low-$80,000s.
The token’s drop to fresh multi-month lows marks a steepening of the downtrend that began after highly leveraged crypto positions were unwound in October.
Short-term bounce; levels to watch
After the flush, buyers pushed BTC back above $86,000, reclaiming more than 50% of the downswing from the $92,872 swing high to the $80,595 low. Intraday momentum is mixed: the RSI on lower timeframes has recovered above 50, while the MACD is flattening after losing momentum.
- Resistance: $86,000–$92,900 (includes the 50% retracement and prior swing area).
- Support: $82,500 near term; major support at $80,000. A decisive break below $80,000 could accelerate downside.
- Trend gauges: 50-day EMA remains under pressure after a second weekly close beneath it, a setup some analysts view as a risk for a retest of $80,000.
Prominent market watcher Ted Pillows cautioned that repeated closes below the 50-day EMA keep $80,000 in play as a key technical floor, a level last visited in late February 2025.
Macro backdrop and broader market
Macro uncertainty continues to weigh on risk assets. Bloomberg Intelligence senior commodity strategist Mike McGlone warned that Bitcoin could face further downside toward $50,000 in 2026 if broader risk-off conditions persist.
Across majors, selling was widespread. Ether fell below $2,740 (−9.6% over 24 hours). XRP, Binance’s BNB, and Solana’s SOL declined about 9.1%, 8.4%, and 10.6%, respectively.
As of the latest trade, Bitcoin hovered near $87,000 (approximately A$135,000), with the 100-week SMA overhead and the $80,000 area emerging as the market’s pivotal near-term line in the sand.