Bitcoin pulled back to about $85,600 after another failed attempt to break through $87,000, while U.S. equities continued to trade near record levels and Treasury yields moved higher.
BTC declined 1.2% to approximately $85,600 during Asian trading hours Tuesday. The move followed Monday’s rejection from slightly above $87,000, making it the third time since Sept. 23 that sellers have prevented bitcoin from holding that level.
The broader crypto market was mostly weaker. HYPE gained 3% to around $94, bucking the decline, while BNB fell 2.5%. Ether, XRP, SOL and DOGE each declined between 1% and 2%. ZEC and TRX were little changed, according to CoinDesk data.
Outside the largest cryptocurrencies, ADA was among the strongest performers, jumping 11%. GRT added 7%, while NEAR advanced nearly 7%.
FxPro analyst Alex Kuptsikevich said bitcoin has been building “a trend of higher local lows” since the start of last week, but the market has yet to see enough buying momentum to break higher.
He said the price is nearing the apex of a triangle created by horizontal resistance and rising support. A break outside that formation could therefore lead to greater volatility.
Total crypto market capitalization fell to around $2.93 trillion, below the $2.95 trillion resistance level identified by FxPro. The decline in digital assets came as the dollar strengthened, while major stock indexes remained relatively firm.
Stock Market Nears Highs
Equities continued to outperform. The Nasdaq 100 closed at a record, and the S&P 500 ended within 0.5% of its all-time high. MSCI’s Asia Pacific gauge gained 0.1%.
The Treasury market remained under pressure. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield climbed one basis point to 5.32%, around levels last seen in 2002, while the two-year yield increased two basis points to 4.83%.
Billionaire investor Ray Dalio also cautioned that weaker demand for Treasuries from China and Japan could expose the bond market to a pullback.
Bitcoin’s repeated rejection near $87,000 has made the level an important test for bulls. Every attempt to move through the threshold has met a fresh wave of selling.
A sustained break above $87,000 would require buyers to absorb that supply and keep BTC above the resistance. Doing so would suggest that selling pressure at the level has been exhausted and could give bitcoin room to target its highest prices in eight months.
