$BTC's Triangle Tango: Bulls Tap, $87K Says "Not Tonight" 🥱

Bitcoin fell 1.2% to about $85,600 in Tuesday Asian morning trading, after another wave of selling at $87,000 on Monday marked the third rejection at that level since Sept. 23. FxPro analyst Alex Kuptsikevich said Bitcoin has traced "a trend of higher local lows" since the start of last week, "but the bulls have been unable to gain momentum," and warned that the price is approaching "the apex of the triangle formed by horizontal resistance and rising support." He added that traders "should therefore be prepared for increased volatility should the price break out of this pattern."

Among major tokens, HYPE bucked the broader decline with a 3% gain to about $94, while BNB was the laggard, down 2.5%. Ether, XRP, SOL and DOGE each fell between 1% and 2%, with ZEC and TRX flat, according to CoinDesk data. Outside the top tier, ADA jumped 11%, GRT gained 7% and NEAR rose nearly 7% as the total crypto market capitalization slipped to about $2.93 trillion, just below the $2.95 trillion level FxPro flags as resistance.

The crypto pullback came alongside a stronger U.S. dollar. Equities, by contrast, held near highs: the Nasdaq 100 closed at a record, the S&P 500 finished within 0.5% of its all-time high and MSCI's Asia Pacific gauge rose 0.1%. Bonds continued to weaken, with the 10-year Treasury yield climbing one basis point to 5.32% — a level last seen in 2002 — and the two-year yield up two basis points at 4.83%.

Separately, billionaire Ray Dalio warned that the Treasury market is vulnerable to a pullback in demand from China and Japan. Each time Bitcoin has reached $87,000, sellers have knocked it back; clearing that level would require buyers able to hold $BTC there and signal that selling at that price has dried up, opening the path to its highest level in eight months.