Bitcoin trades around $84,117, extending its strong outperformance against gold and other major assets this quarter. The digital asset gained more than 40 percent since July 1, holding prices above $80,000 even as recent momentum slowed.
Gold, in contrast, fell nearly 4 percent on Monday. The yellow metal faced pressure from rising longer-duration yields, which reached their highest levels since 2007. Bitcoin, however, slipped just 1 percent on Monday, briefly touching lows near $82,500 before recovering to its current range.
The dollar index (DXY) also advanced, rising 2.7 percent from 98.78 to nearly 101.50 since Sept. 9. This dollar strength typically weighs on commodity prices, including gold, but Bitcoin has demonstrated independent resilience.
The recent price action confirmed a strong technical pattern. Fidelity Investments Director of Global Macro Jurrien Timmer identified a “double-bottom breakout” after Bitcoin moved above $80,000, signaling a bullish trend.
Timmer said last Friday, "Bitcoin is looking particularly interesting here as it challenges key resistance at $80k. If it breaks it will confirm a double bottom targeting $100K."
A double bottom formation appears as a 'W' shape on a price chart. The asset price drops to a low, bounces, then falls back to approximately the same level before rising again. This pattern indicates buyers have stepped in at a consistent price point twice, while the peak in the middle of the 'W' acts as a resistance level. A break above this middle peak suggests selling pressure has diminished and a new uptrend is beginning.
Timmer’s analysis of Bitcoin’s chart shows the two lows this year at $60,033 and $57,742. The middle peak of this pattern was near $82,800, which Bitcoin has now cleared.
Options traders are positioning for further gains, consistent with this bullish technical setup. On crypto exchange Deribit, the $90,000 call option is the most popular Bitcoin bet, holding $2.45 billion in open interest.
The $95,000 call option follows with $2.33 billion in open interest, and the $100,000 call option commands $1.79 billion in open interest. A call option grants the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to purchase an asset at a predetermined price, profiting when the market price rises above that level.
Chart patterns are not infallible. Breakouts can fail and reverse quickly, potentially trapping buyers who entered positions based on the initial move. Options market sentiment can also shift rapidly if market trends change.
