Bitcoin Price Briefly Nears $82K, but Bears Warn of a Drop Toward $76K
Key Takeaways
- Bitcoin jumped to $81,888 after U.S. GDP data showed 3.4% growth in the third quarter.
- Coinglass data showed $99 million in bitcoin liquidations as broader crypto wipes hit $412 million.
- An analyst expects price volatility until bitcoin reclaims $80,400 or tests $76,000 support.
Strong GDP Growth Drives Temporary Rally
Bitcoin rallied Thursday after new data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis showed U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annual rate of 3.4% in the third quarter. The leading cryptocurrency may have also benefited from investors fleeing AI stocks after Google reported a massive earnings miss Thursday morning, rapidly wiping out over $500 billion from the market cap of parent company Alphabet.
The rally reversed losses the cryptocurrency incurred after the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voted to keep interest rates unchanged ahead of the U.S. midterm elections.
Bitstamp data showed bitcoin’s price jumped from just under $79,900 to a session high of $81,888 following the release of the GDP report, which indicated robust U.S. economic growth over the summer. 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’s price fluctuated around $80,000, with $80,500 acting as a resistance level. The GDP data provided a boost that pushed the digital currency up nearly $2,000 in just over two hours. At 1:40 p.m., bitcoin traded slightly below $81,000, representing a daily gain of 0.5%.
Although the sudden rally lifted bitcoin’s market capitalization from $1.61 trillion to $1.64 trillion, data showed the cryptocurrency was down approximately 2% from its October opening price of around $83,600.
Price Volatility Triggers Liquidations
In the derivatives market, bitcoin’s 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.
Commenting on the price movement, crypto analyst Cryptoreviewing noted that significant liquidity clusters remain on both sides of the order book. In a post on X, the analyst 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 lower timeframes, the analyst highlighted key liquidity zones at $78,500–$79,600 to the downside and $80,400–$82,000 to the upside as the most likely levels to be swept next. Turning to whale activity, the analyst noted:
“Whales currently have around $490M buy orders below at $75,000-$80,000 and around $350M above at $80,000-$86,000. So whales want to buy any dip we get.”
However, many traders on social media characterized the price swings as a deliberate “stop-loss sweep” orchestrated by institutional players to liquidate late long and short positions on both sides of the trading range. Others highlighted the analyst’s observation that $2.9 billion in liquidity was concentrated below $79,500. Bearish traders argued that this liquidity pool could draw prices lower before any sustained recovery, while bulls maintained that defending the $78,500 support level would be critical to preventing a deeper decline toward $76,000.
While the presence of $490 million in whale buy orders below $80,000 offered short-term reassurance, some users expressed skepticism, noting that large order book bid walls are frequently pulled or relocated before orders execute.
Consequently, 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.
