Bitcoin Price Holds October Gains After Two Surges Above $86K

Yet as soon as it reclaimed this threshold, selling pressure drove the price downward until it reached $85,150, where the second rally began. Unlike the first rally, during which the price barely cleared $86,000, the second rally saw it top $86,450 before consolidating above $86,200.

By 1:15 p.m. EST, Bitcoin had pulled back to around $85,500, bringing its market capitalization to nearly $1.72 trillion. The modest gains kept the cryptocurrency in the green, nearly six days after entering October trading at roughly $83,700.

On the derivatives front, tight price action drastically reduced total bitcoin position liquidations, from $109 million 24 hours earlier to $30 million on Tuesday. Wiped-out long bets topped $13 million, compared with nearly $17 million in short bets. Across the broader market, long liquidations reached $73 million, compared with over $76 million in short bets.

CFTC Proposal Draws Praise for Framing, Caution Over Protections

While the CFTC’s move to establish crypto rules was expected following Congress’s failure to pass the CLARITY Act, the framing of its advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) has been hailed as clever by some observers. Journalist Eleanor Terrett explained in a post on X that lawyers she spoke to view the agency’s reading of Section 2(c)(2)(D) of the Commodity Exchange Act as creative.