Bitcoin

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 Bitcoin (<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/bitcoin-price" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">BTC</a>) struck at ask liquidity at Tuesday’s Wall Street open as markets reacted to mixed US employment data.
 Key points:
 <ul>
 <li>Bitcoin buyers and sellers square off for control amid conflicting US employment numbers.</li>
 <li>Nearby order-book liquidity begins to get shaken out at the Wall Street open.</li>
 <li>BTC price targets include $95,000 in the event of a bullish impulse on short timeframes.</li>
 </ul>
 <h2 id="bitcoin-order-book-battle-commences-at-87-000">Bitcoin order-book “battle” commences at $87,000</h2>
 Data from <a href="https://subscription.cointelegraph.com/?_gl=1*enpnlb*_ga*MTE3NDE3MjgzMC4xNzE1NjcwODE1*_ga_53R24TEEB1*MTc0NDcyNDI2NS40MS4xLjE3NDQ3MjQyNjkuNTYuMC45MTY3MzAwMzI." rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Cointelegraph Markets Pro</a> and <a href="https://www.tradingview.com/symbols/BTCUSD/?exchange=BITSTAMP" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">TradingView</a> showed that bulls were grappling with resistance above $87,000.
 <figure>
 <img alt="Bitcoin liquidity ‘battle’ rages as bull case sees clear run to $95K" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-12/019b27bd-dc9b-7f46-be49-830f343fb7ec.png" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 BTC/USD one-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
 </figcaption>
 </figure>
 After dropping to nearly $85,000 the day prior, tensions were high as buyers sought to avoid <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-pure-manipulation-us-sell-off-liquidates-200m-in-hour" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">another “manipulative” sell-off</a> during US trading.
 “Waking up to a battle in the $BTC order book…,” trading resource Material Indicators <a href="https://x.com/MI_Algos/status/2000916018760151446" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">wrote</a> in a post on X alongside Binance order-book liquidity data.
 <blockquote>
 “Bid liquidity is concentrating at $85k to defend support at the 100-Week SMA… Meanwhile asks are stacking above $87k to suppress a break out.”
 </blockquote>
 <figure>
 <img alt="Bitcoin liquidity ‘battle’ rages as bull case sees clear run to $95K" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-12/019b27b6-fb85-7c81-bec4-147eb94048ec.jpeg" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 BTC/USDT order-book liquidity data with whale orders. Source: Material Indicators/X
 </figcaption>
 </figure>
 Material Indicators referenced the 100-week simple moving average (SMA) as important support, currently at $84,646.
 “Both concentrations of liquidity could be considered guardrails ahead of today’s economic data,” it added.
 <figure>
 <img alt="Bitcoin liquidity ‘battle’ rages as bull case sees clear run to $95K" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-12/019b27b8-f90a-7925-9efd-1938799487e3.png" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 BTC/USD one-day chart with 100-week SMA. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
 </figcaption>
 </figure>
 That data provided mixed signals for risk-asset traders. US unemployment came in above expectations at 4.6%, its highest level since the third quarter of 2021.&nbsp;
 At the same time, the economy added around 14,000 more jobs than anticipated in November, giving conflicting signals over labor-market robustness.
 “The labor market is still weakening,” trading resource The Kobeissi Letter nonetheless concluded in an <a href="https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/2000925538131829101" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">X response</a>.
 Stocks also attempted to recoup losses at the open, with the S&amp;P 500 seeking a green candle after a rocky start to the week.
 <figure>
 <img alt="Bitcoin liquidity ‘battle’ rages as bull case sees clear run to $95K" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-12/019b27b7-ead8-74e8-8642-b4f0133f14ee.png" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 S&amp;P 500 one-day chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView
 </figcaption>
 </figure>
 As <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bears-take-over-below-90k-5-things-to-know-in-bitcoin-this-week" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Cointelegraph reported</a>, the week’s main macro data event, the November print of the Consumer Price Index (CPI), was due Thursday.
 <h2 id="thin-air-toward-six-figures">”Thin air” toward six figures</h2>
 Bitcoin traders, meanwhile, felt little relief as the price stayed tied to liquidity clusters.
 Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-long-term-holders-hit-eight-month-lows-bullish-or-bearish" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Bitcoin long-term holder supply hits 8-month lows: Bullish or bearish?</a>
 “This reaction to me is sub par and i would think if we dropped below to $84,000 region, we would get a better reaction for a long off the liquidity there,” Crypto Tony <a href="https://x.com/CryptoTony__/status/2000940126025974240" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">told</a> X followers.
 <figure>
 <img alt="Bitcoin liquidity ‘battle’ rages as bull case sees clear run to $95K" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-12/019b27ba-c909-7ded-9917-4b43e3d26c6d.jpeg" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 BTC/USDT perpetual contract four-hour chart. Source: Crypto Tony/X
 </figcaption>
 </figure>
 Trader Kay said that BTC/USD was about to see its “final leg down” from its all-time high in October.
 “The dump from $126K to $100K was due to OGs selling. The dump from $100K to $85K was due to ETFs selling,” he <a href="https://x.com/kay_drake_/status/2000912761312657553" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">argued</a>.
 <blockquote>
 “Now, the next dump will be due to retail selling and that's when a rally starts. IMO, a dump to sweep the April lows before a rally above $100K in Q1 2026.”
 </blockquote>
 <figure>
 <img alt="Bitcoin liquidity ‘battle’ rages as bull case sees clear run to $95K" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-12/019b27b9-cf66-7600-bdea-29fd59a8a86f.jpeg" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 BTC/USDC one-day chart. Source: Kay/X
 </figcaption>
 </figure>
 Continuing the hopeful tone, commentator exitpump eyed “huge” bid liquidity further toward the $80,000 mark, as well as a potential clear run to $95,000 in the event of a resistance breakout.
 <blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
 <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%24BTC&amp;src=ctag&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">$BTC</a> Huge passive demand on spot orderbooks is still there, some large asks have been added at 88k, above that level thin air till 95K <a href="https://t.co/L6bW2LIqr4" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">pic.twitter.com/L6bW2LIqr4</a>— exitpump (@exitpumpBTC) <a href="https://twitter.com/exitpumpBTC/status/2000883480956428445?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">December 16, 2025</a>
 </blockquote>
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Bitcoin liquidity ‘battle’ rages as bull case sees clear run to $95K

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