Bitcoin Turns $86,000 Into Support After CFTC and SEC Regulatory Moves

Bitcoin traded above $86,000 twice on Tuesday, reaching a peak of $86,450 and a market capitalization of about $1.72 trillion, before a retreat that Bitcoin.com News reported took it to an intraday low of $82,734 by 9:45 a.m. ET the following day, its lowest point since Sept. 28. The outlet linked the Tuesday rally to a Commodity Futures Trading Commission announcement on cryptocurrency regulation, which came days after the Securities and Exchange Commission proposed letting advisers and regulated funds custody crypto assets. The Wednesday sell-off came with $693 million in total crypto liquidations, of which $637 million came from long positions, while open interest stayed steady. Bitfinex analysts cut their expected range for the next stretch from $84,000 to $87,722 to $81,300 to $86,500 ahead of the Oct. 14 CPI report, and the outlet identified $81,300 as the level now in view. Both accounts come from Bitcoin.com News, so the attribution of the move to the regulatory announcements rests on a single outlet, and the reports disagree on how firmly the October gains were lost and on the timing of the low. Position liquidations were reported at about $30 million on Tuesday, far below the $693 million reported for the whole market on Wednesday.