A Bitcoin Rally to $90,000 Would Be the 'Ultimate Trap,' Analyst Cautions

Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) could rally toward $90,500 before reversing sharply, according to one analyst’s chart, in a pattern he calls an “ultimate trap” for buyers. Why Analyst Sees a Bull Trap Forming Prominent pseudonymous trader Capo of Crypto on Thursday posted a chart on X laying out a four-stage move. Bitcoin first holds near $81,000 to $82,000, then rallies to $90,488, a level he labels the “ultimate trap” since it could pull buyers into expecting a real breakout. From there, he projects a drop to $75,000, a short rebound back to $81,000 to $82,000, and then a deeper fall to $65,000 to $68,000, a zone he identifies as a fair value gap Bitcoin is likely to revisit. The analyst frames the entire move as his forecast rather than a confirmed outcome, but his overall read stays bearish even through the initial rally leg. Why Ethereum Could Lead the Next Leg Down Analyst SalsaTekila posted on X that Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) could trigger the next broader selloff if buyers fail to hold current levels. His chart shows ETH bouncing off roughly $2,350 to $2,370 three separate times, a repeated low he says leaves stop-loss orders vulnerable to a sweep. He also flagged liquidation risk tied to large Hyperliquid as measured by Hyperliquid Strategies (NASDAQ:PURR) traders positioned below $2,300. If those bullish positions get forced closed, SalsaTekila warns the selling could spread well beyond Ethereum. He was careful to frame this as conditional. “IF (big IF) things go down,” he wrote, without naming a specific downside target. Widely-followed crypto trader Michaël van de Poppe posted on X that the recent pullback looks sharper than it actually is. He argued that during periods when altcoins keep rallying, large breakout gaps tend to form and eventually get retested, meaning recent drops have already created attractive entry points rather than signaling a deeper breakdown. What’s Driving the Broader Pullback As Benzinga reported Thursday, Bitcoin fell below $81,000 after three catalysts hit at once: the U.S. government moved $1 billion in seized Bitcoin to new wallets, the White House weighed pre-midterm strikes on Iran, and Fed minutes signaled another rate hike before year-end. President Donald Trump later denied plans to strike Iran before the midterms in a Thursday Truth Social post, though Bitcoin failed to recover at the time. Separately, Trump’s EPA proposed rolling back Biden-era methane rules Thursday, a move that could save oil and gas producers roughly $45 billion annually and potentially ease pressure on energy prices tied to the broader macro picture weighing on crypto. Photo via Shutterstock Read Also: Ripple Takes On Wall Street Banks in Leveraged ETF Financing