Bitcoin Holds $81K Support as $97K Target Comes Into View

Video: Bitcoin Came THIS Close to Breaking Down: $97K Next?

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Oct 20, 2026 · based on the channel Gareth Soloway

Bitcoin is a coin flip between two clearly defined levels right now: a daily close above $87,200 opens a measured move toward $95,000–$97,000, while a daily close below $81,000 opens the $75,500 and then $67,000 buy zones. Everything in between is noise. That framing comes from Gareth Soloway's latest chart breakdown, and it is the same framework any trader can apply with a Coinbase account and a daily candle chart.

The setup matters because price already tested the lower boundary. Bitcoin flushed to about $79,750 before closing back above $81,000, the second time that line absorbed a hit. The bullish structure survived, but the range is compressed to roughly $6,000, and compressed ranges resolve.

Why Bitcoin keeps holding while the AI trade slides

Bitcoin has been hanging in there even as the AI trade and the Nasdaq sell off, and that relative strength is the single most important clue in the current tape. When a risk asset refuses to break while its correlated peers are collapsing, sellers are being absorbed rather than rewarded.

Soloway's read is not blind bullishness. He holds no swing position in Bitcoin, long or short, while price sits inside the $81,000–$87,200 band. The reasoning is mechanical: the reward-to-risk on either side of a mid-range entry is poor, and the two boundaries are close enough that a stop placed just beyond one of them gets hit by ordinary noise. Sitting flat is a position.

The three factors stacking near $97,000

Above $87,200, three independent technical factors converge in the $95,000–$97,000 area, which is why that zone carries more weight than a single drawn line.

1. Rising trend line. A trend line drawn off the consolidation projects into the low $90,000s and continues climbing, which is why the target could still be valid into late November rather than expiring this week.
2. Measured move. The height of the current consolidation, projected upward from the breakout point, lands at roughly $96,000–$97,000.
3. Prior pivot highs. Previous swing highs sit in the same neighborhood, confirming the confluence rather than contradicting it.

One condition governs all three: the upside case only counts above $87,200. A wick through the level is not a breakout; a daily close is. Until that print exists, the target is a map, not a trade.

The bear case below $81,000 and the two buy zones

A daily close below $81,000 shifts the map down and turns the $75,500 area into the first decision point. That is not a place to back up the truck. Soloway's plan is to buy only 25% there, keeping most of the capital dry for a deeper flush.

The second zone is $67,000, where he plans to load the rest. The logic is that a break of $81,000 after two successful defenses would signal that the range resolved lower, and the measured move from that structure points well below $75,500. Scaling in at 25% and 75% keeps the average entry reasonable if the deeper level never prints, while preserving ammunition if it does.

He has also said he still believes the cycle low is in until proven otherwise. That is a statement about probabilities, not certainty: the plan is built so that being wrong about the cycle low costs a fraction of the account rather than all of it.

Ethereum and HBAR: the altcoin levels in play

Ethereum is trading in a range with a heavy buy zone just below $2,000, and a breakout would put $2,800 back in play as a retest. The structure mirrors Bitcoin's: define the floor, define the trigger, size the position between them.

HBAR offered a cleaner swing setup. The trade was taken on a retrace to the scene of the crime, the level where price previously broke down, with a target near $0.10. Retraces to prior breakdown points are popular because the level is visible to everyone, which makes the reaction tradable, but the entry only works with a stop defined in advance.

Why a written game plan beats prediction

Emotion, not analysis, is what whipsaws most traders, and the fix is a plan written before the entry. A usable plan answers four questions in advance: the entry trigger, the invalidation level, the position size and the target. When price moves, the trader executes rather than decides.

The practical problem is that many people do not know enough to build that plan in the first place, which is why they end up reacting to every candle. The remedy is to start with one asset, one timeframe and two levels, then add complexity only after the process is repeatable. Soloway's own approach in this video is a working example: no position, two boundaries, three upside factors, two downside buy zones.

Common questions traders keep asking

Two themes dominate the reaction to this breakdown. The first is disbelief that a well-known bull holds no Bitcoin swing position; the answer is that a range trade with tight boundaries offers poor reward-to-risk, and waiting is a legitimate strategy. The second is platform friction, with viewers complaining that exchange fees and spreads eat into returns on small accounts.

On shorting: not every venue offers it directly, and many traders use futures or margin products where available, which carry liquidation risk that spot buyers never face. On the practical side, anyone who already has an account can often still qualify for promotional pricing through a referral link, though the terms are set and fulfilled by the exchange, not by the analyst.

The bottom line on this crypto setup

This is a two-level market, and the levels are $81,000 and $87,200. Above the upper boundary, three confluent factors point to $95,000–$97,000, with the rising trend line keeping that target alive into late November. Below the lower boundary, the plan is a 25% buy at $75,500 and the remainder at $67,000. The analysis comes from Gareth Soloway, whose channel publishes these chart breakdowns with explicit invalidation levels rather than vague forecasts. Traders who want tier-one fee pricing can register through the Verified Investing Coinbase link, which also covers accounts that have been idle for 30 days or that originally joined under someone else's referral.

Source: Bitcoin Came THIS Close to Breaking Down: $97K Next? · Markdown version