Bitcoin’s latest decline has not yet disrupted the broader bullish structure that has guided its price higher in a series of stepped moves since July.
BTC fell to around $84,200 early Wednesday, more than 2% below Tuesday’s level near $86,500, according to CoinDesk data. Despite the pullback, the cryptocurrency remains within the $83,000-$87,000 range it has occupied for the past two weeks.
“The October 7 decline does not invalidate Bitcoin’s stair-step rise,” Vikram Subburaj, CEO of Indian crypto exchange Giottus, told CoinDesk.
The stair-step pattern has developed through alternating periods of consolidation and sharp advances. Bitcoin has repeatedly established a trading range, broken higher and then spent weeks building another range above the previous one.
From mid-July through Aug. 18, BTC traded around $62,000-$67,000 before jumping 21% in just three days.
Bitcoin then consolidated between approximately $76,000 and $81,500 from late August through mid-September. A further 6.6% advance between Sept. 19 and Sept. 21 pushed the cryptocurrency into its current range.
Since then, bitcoin has largely traded between $83,000 and $87,000.
“After moving above $81,500, Bitcoin established a new range of roughly 83,000-87,000. If $83,000 holds, it would show that sellers cannot force the price back into its previous trading band,” Subburaj said.
That makes $83,000 a critical level for the current structure. A decisive break beneath it would weaken the stair-step setup and potentially signal that the latest phase of consolidation is failing.
Subburaj said a sustained move below $82,000-$83,000 would confirm that the September breakout had failed and could bring the $80,000-$81,500 zone back into view.
Alex Kuptsikevich, chief market analyst at FxPro, places the nearest important support slightly higher, around $84,000. Losing that level could expose bitcoin to a move toward $80,000, he said.
BTC was trading near $84,300 at the time of writing.
