Bitcoin’s Price Movement: A Delicate Balance Between Bulls and Bears
Bitcoin’s rally earlier this year encountered strong resistance near $93,000, triggering a pullback that shifted the market’s focus back to key support levels. While the higher time frame (HTF) structure still appears fragile, the lower time frame (LTF) signal suggests that bulls may still have room to regain control if critical levels are held. The cryptocurrency’s price movement has been a subject of interest for investors and analysts, with many trying to predict its future trajectory.
Key Takeaways:
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Bitcoin was rejected for the third time at $93,000 and fell back to weekly lows near $89,250, indicating a potential trend reversal.
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Increasing open interest during the decline suggests that bears are establishing positions near $90,000, which could lead to a short squeeze if the price holds above this level.
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Strong passive bids around $90,000 could act as a springboard or fail, opening the door to the $86,000-$87,000 range, depending on the market’s sentiment.
Bitcoin Bulls Need to Hold $90,000 to Regain Control
After rising 8% to $93,000, Bitcoin (BTC) printed a swing failure pattern (SFP) for the third time at the same resistance level. The rejection pushed BTC to weekly lows near $89,250, reviving the risk of consolidation or a continuation of the downtrend in line with the broader HTF trend. However, the LTF structure leaves room for a bullish reaction, with Bitcoin currently testing a key order block between $89,200 and $90,500.
Bitcoin six-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
In addition to this support, BTC continues to hold above the monthly moving VWAP (volume weighted average price), which turned bullish again in early 2026. This indicator suggests that the market is still in a bullish trend, despite the recent pullback.
Short-Term Outlook: Sideways Trend and Potential Uptrend Continuation
In the short term, Bitcoin could trend sideways until the end of the week. A decisive bullish rebound above $91,666 would represent the first confirmation of an uptrend continuation, forming a higher low of the LTF trend and potentially trapping late bear positions between $90,000 and $92,000.
Bitcoin Open Interest and Price. Source: Coinalyze
Open interest data strengthens this setup. As BTC fell from $92,000 to $90,000, open interest rose sharply, a sign that short positions are being built. If BTC can defend the $90,000 level, a short squeeze will be likely. A strong daily close above $91,700 would be the first signal and would pave the way for another test of $93,000.
BTC Buyers Are Flooding the Order Book with Passive Bids
Data from CoinGlass shows that the aggregated order book liquidity delta has strong passive bids at around $90,000. The past two weeks have seen similar absorption of supply preceding short-term rallies, a pattern that could repeat if buyers continue to defend this zone.
Bitcoin order book liquidity delta chart. Source: CoinGlass
However, futures trader Byzantine General warned that increasing open interest works both ways. The analyst said: “The liquidation data suggests there is a fair amount of vulnerable long position there. I could see a bit of a bounce here at 90,000, but ultimately it makes sense to me that this will clear the local lows around 86,000.”
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