This One Bitcoin Level Could Unlock $100K

Bitcoin (BTC) is running out of room to drift sideways. After weeks of compressed trading, the price remains locked between two clearly defined levels: unable to lose $86,500, and unable to reclaim $90,000, building pressure for a decisive move.

Indeed, Bitcoin has spent multiple weeks oscillating inside this range, according to the analysis shared by popular cryptocurrency trading expert Michaël van de Poppe in an X post on December 26.

This condition rarely persists without resolution. When markets compress for this long, the eventual breakout tends to define short-term direction rather than produce a false signal.

Adding urgency to the setup, the session coincides with options expiration, a moment that often clears positioning distortions and allows price to move more freely once derivative pressure lifts.

What The Charts Are Signaling Now

On lower timeframes, the structure has already tried to resolve unsuccessfully. According to fellow crypto analyst Trader Tardigrade, Bitcoin broke out of an inverse head-and-shoulders pattern on the two-hour chart, only to suffer a brief false breakdown before reclaiming higher levels, which is an important sequence.

False breaks often act as traps that reset positioning. Weak longs are flushed, early shorts are lured in, and price regains balance before choosing direction. Since that failed breakdown, Bitcoin has been trending upward again in a subtle shift that suggests sellers are struggling to regain control below $86.5K.

Still, structure alone isn’t enough, and the market now requires confirmation.

What The $90K Test Matters More Than It Looks

If Bitcoin can push back into $90K and hold above it, the range resolves upward, and the path toward $100K opens mechanically, not emotionally. Above $90K, overhead supply thins quickly, and momentum traders tend to re-engage.

However, if rejection happens again, the market risks slipping back into indecision or revisiting the lower bound with more force. After weeks of balance, neutrality is no longer stable.

At the moment, the world’s first and foremost crypto is trading at $88,788.18, up 1.52% on the day, gaining 0.88% across the week, and accumulating an increase of 2.33% on its monthly chart, according to the latest price data.

All things considered, with compression maxed out, expiration pressure fading, and both sides tested repeatedly, the next clean break is unlikely to be ignored.

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