Why Bitcoin Lagged as Gold and Silver Went on a Tear

Traders are increasingly focused on a dense cluster of bids around $87,500 and persistent sell pressure below $90,000, a setup that has come to resemble a tug of war as month-end approaches.

Bitcoin’s price action appeared unusually sluggish earlier last month, even as traditional assets such as equities and precious metals surged to fresh highs. The world’s largest cryptocurrency repeatedly failed to break above the $90,000 level — a stall that, in hindsight, signaled vulnerability well before the subsequent slide toward $75,000.

At the time, market participants pointed to a range of explanations, including a shift toward safer assets, waning crypto demand, uneven spot ETF flows and routine month-end positioning. But some analysts argue the more important signals were already visible in exchange order books.

According to Keith Alan, co-founder of trading analytics firm Material Indicators, order-book data consistently showed heavy sell-side liquidity sitting just below $90,000, effectively capping upside momentum even when broader market conditions appeared supportive.

Alan described the pattern as a form of “liquidity herding,” in which large players influence market behavior by steering price toward levels that suit their positioning. By placing sizable sell orders in visible areas of the order book, buying pressure appears riskier, encouraging hesitation among smaller traders. Prices then drift sideways or lower, allowing those larger participants to accumulate at more favorable levels.

Unlike fundamental or news-driven moves, this tactic relies on market structure itself. It is often observed around options expiry, when keeping prices confined to a specific range can reduce losses or improve payouts for dominant players.

At the same time, order-book data showed a substantial buildup of bids between roughly $85,000 and $87,500. That zone repeatedly absorbed selling pressure and acted as a near-term floor during bitcoin’s extended consolidation.

“If that support held, it was viewed as a potential base for another push higher,” Alan said at the time. “But once it breaks, things can unwind quickly.”

That assessment proved accurate. When bitcoin slipped below the lower end of the bid cluster, selling accelerated as thin liquidity magnified each move. The breakdown marked a decisive failure of the trading range that had contained prices for weeks.

Over the weekend, bitcoin probed lows in the $74,000–$76,000 area, underscoring the fragile balance between dip buyers and forced sellers in a market still short on depth.

Alan had previously warned that a monthly close below roughly $87,500 — the opening level for 2026 — would represent a clear technical failure. He dubbed such an outcome “Bearadise,” a phase in which downside momentum becomes self-reinforcing as confidence erodes.

The influence of large players on short-term price action through visible liquidity placement is not new to crypto markets. Whales and high-frequency traders have long used order-book depth to shape expectations, often leaving smaller traders positioned on the wrong side of the move.

In retrospect, the same order-book dynamics that kept bitcoin pinned below $90,000 also left it acutely vulnerable once support finally gave way.