Bitcoin approached ten-week highs Tuesday as traders pointed to an unusual market setup they say is priming the asset for a short squeeze.
“Cannon is loaded”
Crypto trader Michaël van de Poppe described the current price action as a consolidation with a clear upward pattern, writing on X:
“This means that there’s likely more upside to come for Bitcoin towards the $85,000 area.”
Van de Poppe gave a timeframe of two to three weeks for that level to come into focus, and also highlighted bitcoin’s correlation with the Nasdaq as a factor in his outlook.
Funding rates
The more striking signal, however, came from funding rates on exchanges.
Trader Osemka flagged that funding had stayed negative even as price ground higher — a combination he said had historically only appeared at local bottoms, not during upward moves:
“We’ve never actually gotten one when the chart was grinding up. NEVER. It only occurred during the local BOTTOMS.”
Osemka suggested that “something is brewing beneath” the surface as BTC/USD eyed a reclaim of lost support.
Crypto market intelligence platform Decode agreed, writing:
“What this tells you is that the market is heavily short and bearish, and Bitcoin is setting up for a short squeeze. The cannon is loaded, bulls just need to light the fuse.”
Resistance levels bulls must clear
Multiple technical hurdles sit just above the current spot price.
These include the 21-week exponential moving average, the true market mean, and the average cost basis for US spot Bitcoin ETF investors.
Trader Daan Crypto Trades also noted that bitcoin had filled most of the weekend CME futures gap, but not all of it, adding:
“Market still just following the headlines… So we will just patiently wait and see.”
