Bitcoin Price Analysis: BTC Stumbles At $90,000 Hurdle Yet Again, But Gold Is Going Places

Bitcoin (BTC) stumbled at the $90,000 mark yet again, losing momentum after reaching an intraday high of $90,541 on Monday before settling at $88,556. The flagship cryptocurrency is down over 1% during the ongoing session, trading around $87,475.

Meanwhile, perpetual open interest (OI) has registered a sharp jump as traders anticipate a year-end rally. Perpetual open interest rose from 304,000 to 310,000 Bitcoin, while funding rates also doubled. 

Gold Hits Another Record High 

Gold surged over 2% on Monday, reaching a record high of $4,475 per ounce. The jump, part of a larger rally in precious metals, has left Bitcoin (BTC) reeling, as it struggles to gain momentum. Investor capital flowed towards safe-haven assets and equities, while Bitcoin briefly crossed $90,000 before retreating to $88,000, in what is becoming an all-too-familiar story. The current divergence is testing Bitcoin’s digital gold narrative as gold surges to record levels. Silver also reached a record high of $70 per ounce, with analysts noting that the metal’s recent performance rivalled Bitcoin’s returns over the long term. Analysts from ByteTree noted, 

</span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Bitcoiners can’t ignore the bull market in precious metals, which continues to roar. I suspect that when the rally runs out of steam, Bitcoin will step in.

Investors are also pumping capital into AI-linked tokens and infrastructure. Alphabet recently announced the acquisition of energy infrastructure firm Intersect, highlighting rising demand for data center capacity. 

Congress Delays Crypto Legislation, Triggers $1 Billion In Outflows 

Crypto investment products registered nearly $1 billion in outflows last week. CoinShares attributed the outflows to regulatory uncertainty caused by delays in passing the CLARITY Act. US-based crypto ETPs registered $990 million in outflows, some of which were offset by inflows recorded by German and Canadian crypto ETPs. Ethereum products registered $555 million in outflows, followed by Bitcoin with $460 million. 

The CLARITY Act will regulate cryptocurrencies and crypto assets under a clear regime, allowing the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to clearly distinguish their regulatory responsibilities. The US House of Representatives passed the bill in July. However, White House crypto and AI czar, David Sacks, has said the bill’s markup has been delayed to January. 

Miner Capitulation Suggests Bottom Is Near: VanEck 

VanEck analysts believe Bitcoin’s hashrate falling to 4% could be a positive development for its price as miner capitulation has historically been a “bullish contrarian signal.” VanEck crypto research lead Matt Sigel and senior investment analyst Patrick Bush stated in a report, 

When hash rate compression persists over longer periods, positive forward returns tend to occur more often and with greater magnitude.

The analysts stated that since 2014, the flagship cryptocurrency’s 90-day forward returns have been positive 65% of the time whenever the network’s hashrate has declined, compared to 54% when the hashrate rose. The pattern held over longer periods as well, with a negative 90-day hashrate growth followed by a 77% positive return over the next 180 days and an average gain of 72%, comfortably outperforming the 61% positive returns when the hashrate increased over the same period. 

Bitcoin (BTC) Price Analysis 

Bitcoin (BTC) failed to reclaim $90,000 on Monday despite reaching an intraday high of $90,541. The flagship cryptocurrency lost momentum after reaching this level and settled at $88,556. The price is down over 1% during the ongoing session, trading around $87,580. 

However, Glassnode has reported that perpetual open interest is rising as traders anticipate a big move before the end of the year. According to Glassnode, perpetual open interest rose from 304,000 to 310,000 Bitcoin as the flagship cryptocurrency briefly encountered $90,000 before retreating. The funding rate has also risen from 0.04% to 0.09%, suggesting derivatives traders expect a big move by the end of the year. 

With the price back above $90K, perpetual open interest has risen from 304K to 310K </span></i><a href="https://coinstats.app/coins/bitcoin/"><b><i>BTC</i></b></a><i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> (~2% increase), while the funding rate has heated up from 0.04% to 0.09%. This combination signals a renewed buildup in leveraged long positioning, as perpetual traders position for a potential year-end move.

Bitcoin perpetuals are futures contracts that can be held indefinitely and track Bitcoin’s spot price through the funding rate, a periodic payment between traders holding long and short positions. When the funding rate rises, it means perpetual prices are rising above spot prices, and traders are bullish, willing to pay premiums to hold long positions. Alternatively, it can also indicate overheating as high finding rates could indicate overleveraged longs and a possible correction. 

BTC started the previous week in bearish territory, dropping 1.99% to $86,417. However, it recovered on Tuesday, rising 1.66% to reclaim $87,000 and settle at $87,854. The price reached an intraday high of $90,336 on Wednesday but lost momentum after reaching this level and settled at $86,209. Bitcoin bulls made another attempt to breach the $90,000 ceiling as the flagship cryptocurrency reached an intraday high of $89,447. However, selling pressure at upper levels forced BTC into a retreat as it settled at $85,460, down almost 1%.

Source: TradingView

Despite the overwhelming selling pressure, BTC recovered on Friday, rising over 3% to $88,092. Price action remained positive over the weekend as BTC registered marginal increases on Saturday and Sunday, settling at $88,639. The flagship cryptocurrency reached an intraday high of $90,541 on Monday. However, it lost momentum after reaching this level and settled at $88,556, ultimately registering a marginal decline. The price is down over 1% during the ongoing session, trading around $87,552.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.