Bitcoin nears January high as $85,000 sell wall clears and US jobs miss forecasts

Bitcoin climbed above $86,000 on Friday after sellers partly filled and then pulled remaining sell orders around $85,000, according to Glassnode. Glassnode said the change left little resistance above that level. Bitcoin was trading near $86,700 at the time of writing. QCP Capital said bitcoin broke above the $82,500 to $85,700 range in which it had traded over the past week. Bitcoin topped $87,000 earlier Friday, its highest level since September 23, QCP said. That price put bitcoin 14.6% above its September 15 low of $74,968 and near its best price since January. Glassnode said the next group of sell orders was around $87,000, with about half as many orders as the former $85,000 wall. QCP placed resistance at $87,400 and support at $82,500. Bitcoin held the support level three times this week, QCP said. QCP described $87,400 as the level bitcoin must cross to approach $90,000. QCP said bitcoin rose 12% in September while gold fell 8.5%. The 10-year inflation-protected Treasury yield rose about 44 basis points that month, while long-term inflation expectations barely moved. QCP said bitcoin's rally appeared more consistent with a concentrated flow trade than with a broad rejection of the bond sell-off or a currency-debasement narrative. QCP identified about $2.6 billion recorded by U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds in September and the Securities and Exchange Commission's innovation exemption as catalysts. QCP said clients were rolling October $90,000 bitcoin call options into November as markets positioned for the post-election period. U.S. employers added 29,000 jobs in September, according to nonfarm payroll figures released Friday, below QCP's expectation of 84,000 to 93,000. The unemployment rate rose to 4.2% from 4.1%. Sygnum Bank Chief Investment Officer Fabian Dori said the weak jobs figure strengthens the case against an October rate increase. Dori warned that orderly weakness could support a liquidity-driven rally, while a growth scare could pull down risk assets, potentially including bitcoin. Wincent senior director Paul Howard said he still expects bitcoin to break $100,000 by year-end, particularly following Citi's recently revised $113,000 price target. Howard expects bitcoin to fluctuate around $85,000 in the near term and said a sustained break above $90,000 could support a stronger rise. 21Shares strategist Matt Mena said the fourth quarter has historically been bitcoin's strongest, with average gains of 62.7%.