Bitcoin price stalls at $84.5K – Is a deeper BTC reset still possible?
Weak spot market demand, cooling ETF flows and short-term holder sell-side supply could open the door for a deeper price retracement.
Bitcoin [BTC] bounced by 2.42% from Monday’s low of $82,563 to $84,564 by the 29th of September. However, BTC’s price faced rejection from the $84.5k supply zone yet again.
Despite the short-term pullback from $87.3k, the Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index was at the highest it had been since August 2025.
Strong market sentiment despite the minor price dip indicated belief in the BTC bullish recovery. The high amount of long liquidations in recent days pointed toward a healthy market deleveraging phase.
Is there a threat of a bigger Bitcoin price reset?
A whale moved 4,500 BTC worth nearly $380 million recently; the same amount of BTC moved out of a wallet in late September 2025, too. This news sparked debates over whether the minor price dip could become more than just that.
A crypto analyst observed that 45,054 BTC from short-term holders had moved onto exchanges. This was a lot of potential sell-side supply that highlighted STH worries of a deeper retracement.
The rally to $87k swept a large cluster of short liquidations built over the past year. Now that this magnetic zone has been swept, Bitcoin may be poised for another move lower. The next major cluster of liquidation levels lies further to the south, making it a potential target.
This means a price drop below $60k in search of liquidity is possible later in 2026. However, for this scenario to unfold, selling pressure needs to seize control once more and force a return to bear market conditions.
Will cooling demand expose BTC’s volatility?
The Spot demand was also weak compared to the Futures volume, observed analyst Darkfost. The Spot-to-Futures Volume Ratio on Binance was 0.12. Though BTC’s Open Interest declined from $10.6 billion to $9.2 billion over a week, the weak spot demand meant the ratio has not improved.
Moreover, bull runs are sparked by speculative demand, and the run is then sustained by steady spot demand, the analyst concluded. Notably, Bitcoin’s bullish shift in recent weeks was missing steady Spot demand, leaving the market vulnerable to higher volatility.
After an enormously bullish week that saw $2.4 billion in inflows, Spot ETFs’ inflows have slowed down. According to Farside Investors data, $31 million was generated on the 28th of September, followed by $66.2 million the following day.
However, higher Spot volumes on exchanges and less threat of profit-taking from short-term holders, alongside steady ETF inflows, could be necessary to dispel the concerns around a deeper reset.
Final Summary
- Bitcoin’s pullback from $87.3k has remained limited, while buyers have successfully defended the $82k demand zone.
- Could weak spot market demand, cooling ETF flows, and short-term holder sell-side supply cause BTC’s retracement?
