Bitcoin Stalls Below $90,000 as Liquidations and Bearish Signals Cap Rebounds

Overview

• BTC rebounded to roughly $88,000 on Friday but repeatedly failed to clear the $88,000–$90,000 band, with CoinDesk noting a pattern of U.S. trading‑hour sell pressure.
• Chart structures and momentum remain negative, with repeated trendline rejections, price below key moving averages, and analysts marking $88,000 as the near‑term pivot and ~$85,400 as support.
• Derivatives stress persists, with Coinglass reporting roughly $400 million to $540 million in 24‑hour liquidations this week, including about $160 million tied to Bitcoin in one stretch.
• On‑chain flows show sustained BTC withdrawals from exchanges such as Binance even as prices sag, while CryptoQuant warns that weak fresh liquidity raises the risk of brief “dead‑cat” bounces.
• Cohort and miner metrics flag downside risk, with short‑term holders selling at losses (STH‑SOPR below 1), miner financial health near alert levels, and ETF demand inconsistent despite a $457 million net inflow on Dec. 17.