$87,000 sell wall looms despite stronger Bitcoin derivatives

• 4.2% growth lifted Bitcoin futures open interest to 645,410 BTC. The increase pointed to fresh positioning as prices rebounded.
• Between $86,500 and $87,500, overlapping sell orders and major leveraged liquidation clusters create resistance for BTC.
• Removal from MSCI indexes could expose Strategy to selling pressure under new rules effective from November 11.

$86,500 to $87,500 emerged as a zone of increased selling risk for Bitcoin (BTC). Although improving derivatives positioning accompanied signs of a recovery on Wednesday, sell orders and leveraged liquidation clusters in that range could cap further gains.

Bitcoin Derivatives Point to Fresh Positioning

According to a Wednesday report from crypto exchange Bitfinex, buying on dips supported Bitcoin between $81,724 and $83,470. Repeated attempts to push prices lower failed to breach the bottom of its trading range.

By October 20, futures open interest on major exchanges had climbed 4.2% from its October 12 low to 645,410 BTC. The increase signalled fresh positioning alongside the price recovery. During peak sessions, funding rates normalised to annualised levels of 7% to 9%, pointing to a moderate preference for leveraged long positions.

A limited near-term trading range is also implied by options positioning. For the Friday expiry, Bitfinex put notional open interest at $1.23 billion and the maximum pain price at around $82,000.

For the October 30 monthly expiry, notional open interest stands at $11.2 billion. Its implied one-standard-deviation range extends from $78,300 to $87,100.

$87K Resistance: Key Liquidity Clusters in Focus

As Bitcoin derivatives conditions improved, onchain analytics firm Glassnode flagged liquidation clusters around $85,000 and $87,000. It also identified sell orders in the $86,500 to $87,500 range.

“A move toward $87K could gain speed as short positions are forced shut, but it would meet the asks on the order book at the same price,” Glassnode said in a report published on Wednesday.

Realised profits were running at roughly half the pace recorded during the week of September’s market high, Glassnode noted. This suggested that holders in profit were exerting less selling pressure.

Among holders who bought Bitcoin one to two years ago, selling has fallen below a third of the daily level seen in early October.

“A daily close above $86.7K would put the 6 to 12 month buyers back in profit on average and clear the nearest band of supply overhead,” the firm said.

US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), meanwhile, attracted $526 million on Monday as inflows returned. This was their biggest daily intake since September 22 and brought weekly net flows back into positive territory. ETF trading volume, however, stayed subdued.

Glassnode added: “Inflows that repeat on rising volume would show demand broadening beyond a single day,”

Strategy Faces MSCI Index Removal Risk

Scheduled for November 11, MSCI’s final list of companies affected by its new index rules for non-operating businesses was another focus of the report.

A preliminary assessment had flagged Strategy among the affected companies. If it is removed, index-tracking funds could be forced to sell its shares.

Strategy has faced possible exclusion from MSCI indexes before. A proposal MSCI put forward in October 2025 would have excluded companies with digital asset holdings worth at least 50% of total assets, placing Strategy at risk. The index provider subsequently stepped back from immediate exclusion in January.