Early Monday, bitcoin got within roughly $500 of its eight-month high. It then reversed.
The rally peaked just below $86,950. By Monday morning in Asia, bitcoin had slipped back to a little under $86,000, giving up about $1,000. It is still up 1.3% over the past 24 hours.
Two runs at the same ceiling in a week
For the second time in a week, bitcoin has stalled below its late-September high near $87,400. Last Wednesday, a softer U.S. inflation report sent it jumping to $85,500, and that gain was gone within hours.
Monday’s attempt went further, and it had been building for a while. The rally gathered momentum through Sunday and picked up speed late in the day. That carried bitcoin above $86,000 before buyers ran out of steam.
The test from here is simple. If bitcoin closes a day above $87,000, that would be the first sign buyers can get past the late-September high. Two intraday pushes that faded don’t count.
DOGE out front, others mostly followed
Dogecoin was the best performer among the majors, rising more than 3% to just under 10 cents. XRP, BNB and ZEC each gained between 1% and 2%.
Ether and HYPE added less than 1%, while SOL and TRX were flat. For a session in which bitcoin briefly looked ready to break out, that is a fairly muted spread.
Macro conditions gave crypto some room
Softer U.S. jobs data on Friday took some of the pressure off the Federal Reserve to keep raising rates. The 10-year Treasury yield fell two basis points to 5.25%. That is still close to its highest level since 2002, though, so nobody should read this as a rate environment that has turned friendly.
Stocks responded more strongly. The Nasdaq 100 closed at a record on Friday. MSCI’s Asia Pacific equities index climbed 1%, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 2.5%.
Oil went the other way. Brent crude fell 0.7% to about $101.50 a barrel after Saudi Arabia cut prices on its benchmark grade to Asia.
A firmer dollar makes things harder
The dollar strengthened, with a Bloomberg gauge of the U.S. currency up 0.4%. The euro fell to its weakest level since May 2025 on reports that Spain is preparing for an early election.
Bulls hoping for a clean break above resistance don’t want a rising dollar and yields stuck near two-decade highs.
So the tally is two attempts and two reversals, with one number that matters. Until bitcoin closes a day above $87,000, the late-September high near $87,400 is still holding.