Key points:

  • Bitcoin is setting up a showdown with leveraged shorts immediately above its yearly open price.

  • That key level near $93,500 is the main target for traders hoping that BTC/USD will cement its latest breakout.

  • The next support retest could involve $87,000, analysis suggests.

Bitcoin ( BTC ) consolidated below a key resistance target on April 24 as a BTC price forecast brought sub-$90,000 levels into play.

Bitcoin 'short squeeze' or $87K dip next? BTC price predictions vary image 0 BTC/USD 1-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Analyst: BTC price correction “fairly normal”

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView showed BTC/USD retesting $92,000 as support overnight.

The pair broadly maintained six-week highs while global markets remained at a loss over the trajectory of the ongoing US trade war .

“The market is now up over +1% on the day on no news at all,” trading resource The Kobeissi Letter summarized alongside a chart of the SP 500 in part of its latest analysis on X.

“As we have seen multiple times this year, it almost feels like someone is front-running something right now. We expect to see some sort of bullish announcement soon.”
Bitcoin 'short squeeze' or $87K dip next? BTC price predictions vary image 1 SP 500 4-hour chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

Bitcoin continued to brush off news events, leaving volatility to equities, while gold attempted to stabilize after slipping from record highs earlier in the week.

“Fairly normal to have a slight correction here on Bitcoin as it's just had a massive breakout,” crypto trader, analyst and entrepreneur Michaël van de Poppe told X followers on the day.

“Buyers likely going to step in and then we'll be continuing our path towards a new ATH.”
Bitcoin 'short squeeze' or $87K dip next? BTC price predictions vary image 2 BTC/USDT 12-hour chart with RSI data. Source: Michaël van de Poppe/X

Others increasingly entertained the idea of a deeper correction following brisk gains for BTC/USD, potentially taking the market back below the $90,000 mark.

“A dip to 88k would be lovely,” popular trader Inmortal argued. 

A dip to 88k would be lovely.

If the market gives it, I will probably play one of these two setups, or both. $BTC pic.twitter.com/ysqiheds7X

— Inmortal (@inmortalcrypto) April 24, 2025

Trader and analyst Rekt Capital had a similar conception of the potential support retest move.

BTC price action, he observed , was closely copying behavior from the middle of its previous bull market in 2021.

“Part of Bitcoin continuing to repeat mid-2021 price tendencies relative to the Bull Market EMAs would be a dip into the $87000 (green EMA) level for a post-breakout retest, if at all needed,” he commented on a weekly chart showing two exponential moving averages (EMAs).

“Depends on how BTC Weekly Closes relative to $93500.”
Bitcoin 'short squeeze' or $87K dip next? BTC price predictions vary image 3 BTC/USD 1-week chart. Source: Rekt Capital/X

Bitcoin bulls seek leveraged shorts wipeout

The main target for bulls thus remained the yearly open level just above $93,000, one which remained intact as resistance at the time of writing.

Related: Bitcoin exchange outflows mimic 2023 as whales buy retail 'panic'

This coincided with a block of potential liquidation levels on exchange order books, providing fertile conditions for a “short squeeze” should price attack them.

$BTC Liquidation heatmap shows that liquidity of leveraged positions is building up on both sides.
Leveraged longs mainly around $91,400.
Leveraged shorts around $93,500-$94,500. pic.twitter.com/d2jCyO2FdC

— chad. (@chad_ventures) April 24, 2025

The latest data from monitoring resource CoinGlass showed the largest concentration of liquidation leverage centered around $93,600.

Earlier, Cointelegraph reported on a large trading entity dubbed “Spoofy the Whale” removing a wall of asks at $90,000.

Bitcoin 'short squeeze' or $87K dip next? BTC price predictions vary image 4 BTC liquidation leverage data. Source: CoinGlass

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.