Bitcoin jumped to $81,888 after U.S. data showed 3.4% growth in the third quarter, briefly reversing losses that followed the Fed's decision to hold rates. One analyst expects volatility until bitcoin reclaims $80,400 or tests $76,000 support.
Bitcoin reached a session high of $81,888 on Thursday after new data showed U.S. gross domestic product grew at an annual rate of 3.4% in the third quarter. The rally reversed losses the cryptocurrency incurred after the Federal Open Market Committee voted to keep interest rates unchanged ahead of the U.S. midterm elections.
GDP report lifts bitcoin from under $80,000
Bitstamp data showed bitcoin's price rising from just under $79,900 to the session high after the report. Before the surge, the cryptocurrency had dropped from over $81,000 to under $80,000 after the FOMC, as expected, voted to leave rates unchanged.
Between midnight EST and 9:40 a.m., bitcoin fluctuated around $80,000, with $80,500 acting as a resistance level. The GDP data pushed the price up nearly $2,000 in just over two hours, and at 1:40 p.m. bitcoin traded slightly below $81,000, a daily gain of 0.5%.
The rally lifted bitcoin's market capitalization from $1.61 trillion to $1.64 trillion. Even so, the cryptocurrency stayed down approximately 2% from its October opening price of around $83,600. Bitcoin may also have benefited from investors fleeing AI stocks after Google reported an earnings miss.
Liquidations hit both sides of the market
The volatility sparked a surge in liquidations of leveraged positions. According to Coinglass data, total bitcoin liquidations approached $99 million, with short position wipes exceeding $52 million. Across the broader cryptocurrency market, $210 million in long positions were liquidated compared with $202 million in short positions.
Analyst sees more liquidity below the price
Crypto analyst Cryptoreviewing said bitcoin has $2.4 billion in liquidity stacked above between $81,500 and $84,000, and $2.9 billion below between $76,000 and $79,500, making the downside the larger target area. On whale activity, the analyst said: "So whales want to buy any dip we get."
Bearish traders argued that the liquidity pool below $79,500 could draw prices lower before any sustained recovery. Bulls maintained that defending the $78,500 support level would be critical to preventing a deeper decline toward $76,000.
Some users expressed skepticism about the $490 million in whale buy orders below $80,000, noting that large order book bid walls are frequently pulled or relocated before orders execute. As a result, some experienced traders are urging retail participants to reduce leverage or stick to spot accumulation until bitcoin decisively reclaims key resistance levels like $80,400.
Source: Bitcoin News
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