Bitcoin's price has erased recent gains, failing to surpass the $90,000 resistance level and triggering fresh downside risks. After an attempted recovery wave, BTC climbed above $89,000 but faced strong selling pressure near $90,000, forming a high at $90,298. A sharp decline followed, pushing the price below $88,000 and forming a low at $86,700. As of early Tuesday, Bitcoin was holding near $87,164, down 1.9% on the day.
The technical picture shows Bitcoin trading below $88,000 and the 100-hour Simple Moving Average, with a declining channel forming resistance at $87,500 on the hourly BTC/USD chart (data from Kraken). Immediate support sits at $86,500, with major support levels at $86,000 and $85,500. A break below $86,500 could trigger another decline toward $85,000, while a close above the $88,500 resistance is needed to initiate a fresh recovery toward $89,200 and $90,000.
Market-wide activity has slowed significantly as the year comes to a close. Jake Kennis, senior research analyst at Nansen, noted that "Bitcoin and Ethereum have both traded largely sideways over the past week, reflecting seasonal inactivity rather than a meaningful shift in market structure." He added that activity has cooled across most chains, with broad consolidation in active addresses, transactions, and fees.
The broader financial markets showed similar patterns, with Asian equities taking a breather after a seven-day run and US tech stocks slipping. The Nasdaq 100 dropped 0.5% on Monday, led by declines in Tesla, Nvidia, and Meta. Meanwhile, metals experienced sharp volatility, with spot silver falling 4.8% on Monday after hitting a record high, and gold easing from its own peak as traders engaged in profit-taking.
For crypto, Bitcoin's current steadiness appears more like a positioning pause than a conviction push, with traders watching liquidity, flows, and volatility pricing for directional clues as markets enter the first week of 2026.
