Bitcoin Eyes $81K Mark While ETF Flows Slow Down

• Bitcoin briefly reached a weekly high of US$81,148 before falling back below US$80K.
• Analysts are watching the US$80K–US$83K range, which previously capped Bitcoin’s rally in May.
• Options positioning suggests a break above US$82K could open the way towards US$85K.
• US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded US$242.3 million in Thursday inflows, extending their streak to nine trading days.

Bitcoin temporarily reached a weekly high of US$81,148 (AU$112,676) in the early hours of trading on Friday, before it fell back down to US$79,812 (AU$110,808) at the time of writing.

As we reported yesterday, analysts said this stretch of the market has a habit of turning rallies back. Swyftx Lead Analyst Pav Hundal noted that the same US$80K–US$83K (AU$111.4K-AU$115.3K) range had already capped Bitcoin’s previous upswing in May, and that this week’s close landed in almost the same spot.

Hundal framed the question in his latest analysis: Could this level turn into another wall for BTC to bump against, or could it instead become the launchpad for the next leg higher?

His take is that the next few days will be telling. If buyers can push through to a fresh weekly high, that would support the bullish case. If they can’t, last week’s rally risks being remembered as a short squeeze that fizzled out rather than the opening move of a bigger trend.