Bitcoin narrowly holds steady above $106,000 as recovery momentum remains thin

Bitcoin is hanging just above $106,000 today after briefly touching $107,000 on Monday, before sliding back under $105,000.

This happened after a wave of selling by big-time holders and leftover tension from the October 10th liquidations, when Donald Trump’s surprise tariff announcement triggered a meltdown across crypto.

Trading activity reflects the same sluggish tone. Open interest on Bitcoin futures has dropped to around $68 billion, down from $94 billion last month. That’s a massive drop in appetite. Funding rates are sitting flat, meaning no one’s loading up on leverage.

The mood on exchange-traded products is just as sleepy. US-listed Bitcoin ETFs only pulled in $1 million in net inflows Monday, even as equities and credit climbed following Washington’s move to end the federal shutdown.

Bitcoin futures dip, technicals stall, whales sell hard

Technically, the coin’s stuck under the 200-day moving average, now near $110,000, which many traders see as a must-break level to shift the trend upward.

Since the early October chaos, Bitcoin has bled about $340 billion in market value. And despite finishing the year with gains, it’s trailing both gold and tech stocks badly, something that hasn’t gone unnoticed by fast-moving investors looking for stronger trends elsewhere.

George Mandres, senior trader at XBTO Trading, said:

“It feels like a dead cat bounce. Equities are trading risk-on, but in crypto, it’s different. OG whales have been offloading serious amounts of coins, and that supply combined with weak ETF flows and pressure on premiums from crypto treasury firms is crushing sentiment.”

Momentum traders aren’t seeing much hope either. Tony Sycamore, analyst at IG Australia, said what caught his attention was how Bitcoin mirrored the recent rebound in other risk assets, after that correlation broke down last month.

“We need more than one session to confirm the link is back,” Tony said. “But I’d argue the correction from the $126,272 top might’ve ended at the recent $98,898 low. If we move above the 200-day average near $110,000, that’ll back that idea up.”

Resistance caps rebound while key support looks fragile

Overall crypto market cap slipped 1.1% Monday after gaining earlier in the day, with the 50-day average near $3.62 trillion holding as resistance.

The rally stalled out at $3.6 trillion, and Alex Kuptsikevich, chief market analyst at FxPro, warned the market could be forming another short-term top. “We’re still in a downtrend,” Alex said, “and the reduction in corporate buying is being felt.”

Rachael Lucas, analyst at BTC Markets, called the recent price lift a “short-covering rally,” plus some institutional fear of missing out. She pointed to Bitcoin’s bounce off the 50-week SMA at around $103,000 after briefly dipping near $98,900.

Now it’s eyeing the next resistance zone at $110,400, and if that’s cleared, Rachael said we could be heading to $115,600 or even $118,000.

But the flip side isn’t pretty. If Bitcoin breaks below $103,000, the next stop could be $86,000. And if that doesn’t hold, deeper support sits at $82,000, near the 100-week SMA. Rachael warned that slipping below those numbers could spark another round of heavy selling.