Bitcoin jumped above $80,000 as Friday’s Wall Street session got underway, with BTC/USD reaching a local high of $81,034 on Bitstamp while US long-dated Treasury yields turned higher again.
TradingView data cited by Cointelegraph showed the pair moving into overhead liquidity pockets. The advance left a cluster of short positions above spot under pressure, and CoinGlass data put cumulative crypto short liquidations at close to $250 million over four hours.
Oil market stress returned to the foreground
The move in Bitcoin came as fuel-supply concerns spread across global markets. US WTI crude dropped to $94.8 per barrel before starting to climb again during the Asia session. It was circling $98 at the time of writing.
In a report published Friday, the International Energy Agency warned that countries may have no choice but to cut usage. The agency noted that in March it released 400 million barrels from emergency reserves during the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
The IEA wrote: 「Prices for crude and oil products had eased from their April peaks in the months that followed as emergency IEA stocks were released, Strait of Hormuz bypass routes boosted Middle East exports, producers outside the region raised output, flows out of the Persian Gulf partially recovered and global demand softened.」
It added: 「But if Gulf supplies remain constrained in the coming months and commercial inventory buffers continue to deplete rapidly, higher prices and further demand reductions may be required to close the supply-demand gap.」
According to the report, oil flows through Hormuz stood at 7.6 million barrels per day in August, 13.1 million barrels per day below the daily level seen before the US-Iran war.
US bond yields rose again as uncertainty in oil markets persisted. The US 30-year yield reached 5.34% on the day, up 90 basis points.
Cointelegraph had earlier reported that rising yields in multiple countries were forcing central banks to raise interest rates, with both the US and Japan taking that step this week.
$82,000 is the next level in focus
On lower time frames, trader and analyst Rekt Capital said bulls were facing a 「moment of truth」.
A chart he posted on X identified $82,000 as the key level for BTC/USD to break. If price fails there, the setup would amount to a double rejection pattern alongside the action that ended the mid-May rebound.
Bitcoin’s latest push higher also brought price back above its True Market Mean, defined as the aggregate cost basis of all coins acquired on secondary markets. That level currently stands at $76,660.
Glassnode said on X on Friday: 「That puts price back above a crucial level and back into a bullish regime.」
The cost basis for Bitcoin held in corporate treasuries, meanwhile, is $80,500, adding to the importance of the current local range.
With BTC back above $81,000, price action is now approaching the resistance area first encountered in May. Whether buyers can force a break above $82,000 is the next immediate test.