Bitcoin weakness persists as crypto steadies after bruising week

Traders are watching $85,200 as a key support level after last week’s breakdown, said Rachael Lucas, analyst at BTC Markets

Bitcoin began the week on the back foot following a prolonged selloff that has put the token on track for its worst month since 2022.

After regaining some ground over the weekend, the original cryptocurrency fell as much as 2.3% to briefly dip below $86,000 on Monday morning, before paring losses. It was trading at $87,986 as of 10:24 a.m. in Singapore.

While that’s substantially higher than the Friday lows of $80,553, traders see little cause for celebration. The wider crypto market is in a pronounced slump despite surging institutional adoption and a series of policy wins pushed for by US President Donald Trump, who has embraced the industry.

“Early trading today is showing slight weakness, but the moves are fairly small and within normal variations,” said Caroline Mauron, co-founder of Orbit Markets. Bitcoin is likely to trade in $80,000 to $90,000 range throughout the week, as the market looks for clues about the Federal Reserve’s upcoming rate decision, she added.

US equity-index futures rose on Monday after a volatile week, as optimism grew over the potential for interest-rate cuts.

Without a turnaround, November will become Bitcoin’s worst month since a string of corporate collapses rocked the crypto market in 2022, a wipeout that culminated in the downfall of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX exchange.

Traders are watching $85,200 as a key support level after last week’s breakdown, said Rachael Lucas, analyst at BTC Markets.“Technicals and macro headwinds are dominating over fundamentals right now, but history shows these liquidation flurries often precede bounces if no new shocks hit,” she added.