Bitcoin (BTC) faced selling pressure at the start of Wall Street trading on Tuesday as the market responded to mixed employment data from the US.
Key points:
Bitcoin traders are locked in a tug-of-war for dominance amid inconsistent US employment figures.
Order-book liquidity starts to experience disturbances at the opening of Wall Street.
BTC price projections suggest a target of $95,000 if a bullish trend develops in the short term.
Bitcoin order-book “showdown” begins at $87,000
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView indicated that bulls are challenging resistance just above $87,000.
Following a drop to nearly $85,000 the previous day, tensions escalated as buyers aimed to prevent another “manipulative” sell-off during US hours.
“Awakening to a showdown in the $BTC order book…,” trading resource Material Indicators noted in a post on X, accompanied by Binance order-book liquidity data.
“Bid liquidity is consolidating at $85k to uphold support at the 100-Week SMA… Meanwhile asks are piling up above $87k to hinder a breakout.”
Material Indicators highlighted the importance of the 100-week simple moving average (SMA) as critical support, currently positioned at $84,646.
“Both liquidity concentrations might serve as guardrails prior to today’s economic data,” it added.
This data presented mixed signals for risk-asset traders. US unemployment rates surpassed expectations, reaching 4.6%, the highest since Q3 2021.
Conversely, approximately 14,000 more jobs were added in November than anticipated, creating conflicting assessments of labor-market strength.
“The labor market continues to weaken,” the trading resource The Kobeissi Letter concluded in an response on X.
Stocks also attempted to recover losses at the open, with the S&P 500 seeking a green candle after a tumultuous start to the week.
As Cointelegraph reported, the week’s key macroeconomic event, the November Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, was scheduled for release on Thursday.
”Thin air” toward six figures
Bitcoin traders, however, experienced limited relief as prices remained tethered to liquidity zones.
Related: Bitcoin long-term holder supply reaches 8-month lows: Bullish or bearish?
“This reaction seems inadequate to me, and I suspect if we dip below $84,000, we would see a more favorable response for a long position off that liquidity,” Crypto Tony commented to followers on X.
Trader Kay suggested that BTC/USD was nearing its “final leg down” since its all-time high in October.
“The drop from $126K to $100K was triggered by OGs selling. The subsequent drop from $100K to $85K resulted from ETF sell-offs,” he theorized.
“Now, the next significant drop will come from retail sellers, and that’s when a rally will initiate. In my opinion, we might see a dip below April lows before rallying above $100K in Q1 2026.”
In a hopeful turn, commentator exitpump noted substantial bid liquidity accumulating toward the $80,000 level, alongside the potential for a clear path to $95,000 if resistance is breached.
$BTC Huge passive demand on spot orderbooks is still there, some large asks have been added at 88k, above that level thin air till 95K pic.twitter.com/L6bW2LIqr4
— exitpump (@exitpumpBTC) December 16, 2025
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