Bitcoin drops under $83K as liquidity hunting keeps bulls from targeting yearly open

Bitcoin lost upside momentum on Monday as a sizeable block of sell-side liquidity appeared on exchange order books and broader market risk sentiment weakened. Trading data showed more than $30 million of asks concentrated near the $85,700 level, a configuration market observers often interpret as a deliberate barrier to further gains. The pullback saw BTC/USD slide below $82,700, marking its lowest level since Sept. 21. The price action led to about $70 million of long-position liquidations within a 24-hour span, according to CoinGlass. That deleveraging came after Bitcoin had posted its strongest weekly close since late January near $84,450 but failed to sustain momentum toward the earlier eight-month highs above $87,000. Macro headlines added to the downward pressure. Crypto and US equity futures moved lower after President Donald Trump declined to categorically rule out additional strikes on Iran, comments that fed into broader risk-off flows. At the time of reporting, Nasdaq futures were down roughly 0.9%, while WTI crude oil rose past $95 a barrel, reaching levels not seen since Sept. 24. The cluster of asks around $85,700 also stopped a renewed advance toward the 2026 year-open at about $88,700, where BTC had stalled the prior week. Markets commentator Aksel Kibar cautioned that the recent activity did not look like a decisive breakout and that hesitant price behavior could push Bitcoin back into the $60,000–$80,000 range where it traded for much of 2026.