After what felt like an eternity stuck in the mid-$80K doldrums, Bitcoin finally punched through the psychological $87,000 level again today, sparking a wave of relief (and a little greed) across the entire crypto market. The move came on the back of a noticeably better risk-on tone in traditional equities – the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both closed solidly green – which reminded everyone that crypto still dances to Wall Street’s beat more often than we’d like to admit.
BTC is currently trading around $87,300 (at the time of writing), up roughly 4.8% in the past 24 hours. More importantly, the king coin managed to flip the $86K–$87K zone from resistance into support, something it has failed to do convincingly since the post-election euphoria started fading two weeks ago.
But the real story today wasn’t Bitcoin – it was everything else.
Altcoins, which have been brutally punished during this multi-week consolidation (many down 30–60% from their November highs), finally decided enough was enough. Ethereum led the charge with a 9% pump, Solana jumped 12%, and even the usual laggards like Cardano and Avalanche posted double-digit gains. The CoinMarketCap Top 100 is a sea of green rarely seen since the election night frenzy.
Total market capitalization climbed back above $2.9 trillion, and the BTC dominance chart – which had been grinding relentlessly higher – finally rolled over and dropped nearly a full percentage point in a single day. That’s the clearest sign yet that money is rotating out of Bitcoin and back into alts.
### Why now?
1. Risk appetite is back (for the moment)
U.S. equity futures were strong into the open, Treasury yields eased slightly, and the dollar softened. Classic recipe for “let’s buy the dip in everything risky.”
2. Technical bounce territory
Most major altcoins were sitting on monthly support levels or key Fibonacci retracements. When Bitcoin stopped bleeding, the coiled-spring effect in alts was almost inevitable.
3. Short squeeze fuel
Funding rates across perpetual futures markets had gone deeply negative over the weekend. Today’s move triggered a cascade of short liquidations – over $420 million in the last 12 hours alone, according to Coinglass.
### But let’s not get carried away
Yes, it feels fantastic to see green candles again. Yes, the charts look constructive in the short term. But we are still very much inside a longer-term downtrend that started right after the post-Trump victory spike. The weekly and monthly candles are ugly, and macro headwinds (potential tariff drama, Fed speakers walking back rate-cut expectations, etc.) haven’t disappeared just because we had one good day.
In other words: enjoy the bounce, take some profits if you’re sitting on them, and remember that bear-market rallies can be viciously sharp – in both directions.
For now, $87K reclaimed is the line in the sand for Bitcoin bulls. Hold that on closing basis and we can start talking about $90K+ again. Lose it, and the path back to low-$80Ks (or worse) reopens in a hurry.
Welcome back to crypto, where one day you’re down bad and the next day you’re jumping on trampolines convinced the bull market never left.
See you on the charts.
