Bitcoin derivatives improve, but $87,000 sell wall looms

Bitcoin (BTC) showed signs of recovery on Wednesday as derivatives positioning improved, but sell risk grew between $86,500 and $87,500, where sell orders and leveraged liquidation clusters could limit further gains.

Bitcoin derivatives show renewed positioning

In a Wednesday report, crypto exchange Bitfinex stated that Bitcoin defended its range lows despite repeated attempts to break lower, with dip-buying supporting prices between $81,724 and $83,470.

Futures open interest across major exchanges rose 4.2% to 645,410 BTC by October 20 from its October 12 low, indicating renewed positioning as prices recovered. Funding rates normalized to annualized levels of 7% to 9% during peak sessions, suggesting a moderate bias toward leveraged long positions.

Options positioning also points to a constrained near-term trading range. Bitfinex reported that the Friday expiry carries $1.23 billion in notional open interest, with a maximum pain price near $82,000.

Meanwhile, the October 30 monthly expiry represents $11.2 billion in notional open interest, with its implied one-standard-deviation range spanning $78,300 to $87,100.

$87K resistance holds key liquidity clusters

With Bitcoin's derivatives showing signs of improvement, onchain analytics firm Glassnode identified sell orders between $86,500 and $87,500, alongside liquidation clusters near $85,000 and $87,000.

“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 wrote in a report on Wednesday.

Glassnode also highlighted that realized profits had slowed to approximately half their pace during the week of September’s market high, suggesting reduced selling pressure from profitable holders.

Selling among holders who acquired Bitcoin one to two years ago has declined to less than a third of its early-October daily level.

“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 stated.

On the other hand, US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) inflows resumed on Monday with $526 million, marking the funds’ largest daily intake since September 22. The inflows turned weekly flows positive again, although ETF trading volume remained weak.

"Inflows that repeat on rising volume would show demand broadening beyond a single day," Glassnode added.

MSCI decision puts Strategy at risk of removal

The report also highlighted MSCI’s upcoming release of its final list of companies affected by new index rules for non-operating businesses, slated for November 11.

Strategy was among the companies flagged in a preliminary assessment. Potential removal could force index-tracking funds to sell its shares.

This is not the first time Strategy has faced the risk of a removal from MSCI indexes. In October 2025, MSCI proposed excluding companies whose digital asset holdings accounted for at least 50% of their total assets, putting Strategy at risk. However, the index provider backed away from immediate exclusion in January.