“If every household used AI agents to optimize the return on their cash balances, banks could lose a large share of the cheap deposits they rely on to make loans, which would be a problem for the entire financial system,” he noted.

Agentic finance refers to AI that acts rather than just answers. These agents can monitor balances in real time, compare returns across institutions, move idle cash into higher-yield accounts and move it back in time for bills.

Estimates of the market’s size vary widely. Mordor Intelligence puts agentic AI in financial services at $7.78 billion in 2026 and projects $43.52 billion by 2031. MarketsandMarkets sizes the narrower AI agents segment at about $845 million in 2025.

Crypto is already building the payment rails these agents would need. Coinbase’s x402 protocol, the most widely used agentic payment standard, lets an AI agent pay for online services in stablecoins within seconds, with no account, card or human approval.

To date, the x402 Protocol has reportedly processed approximately 188 million to over 205 million cumulative transactions, with around 69,000 active agents.
Cloudflare, Google, Visa, Mastercard, AWS, Circle and Stripe have joined the x402 Foundation, which the Linux Foundation now governs.

Nate Geraci, co-founder of the ETF Institute, has previously said that AI and crypto are both coming for the traditional banking model.

Key takeaways

• Bitcoin traded below $83,000 on Monday after gaining more than 4% last week.
• Ethereum slipped below $2,700, while XRP consolidated around $1.500.
• BTC remains above its 50-day, 100-day, and 200-day exponential moving averages.

Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP began the week on a quieter note after last week’s gains. Bitcoin pulled back below $83,100 on Monday, Ethereum traded below $2,700, and XRP hovered around $1.500. 

The moves suggest traders are reassessing the market’s next direction following its recent advance.

Bitcoin’s technical picture remains constructive despite the dip. The largest cryptocurrency is holding above several closely watched moving averages, while its momentum indicators still lean positive. 

The immediate question is whether buyers can carry BTC back toward $85,000 or whether the pause develops into a deeper pullback.

Bitcoin holds above key moving averages

Bitcoin was trading at $83,100 on Monday after rising more than 4% last week. Its retreat from recent highs has so far left the broader near-term uptrend intact: BTC remains above its 50-day, 100-day and 200-day exponential moving averages (EMAs).

The 50-day EMA stands at $77,323. The 100-day EMA is at $73,931, while the 200-day EMA is at $74,253. 

Together, these levels form a series of potential support areas if selling pressure increases. Holding above them would suggest that the latest dip is a pause within the recent advance.

For now, BTC is trading well above that group of averages. That gives buyers room to absorb a modest pullback, although a drop toward the 50-day EMA would represent a more meaningful test of the rally than Monday’s move below $83,600.

The distinction matters after a strong week. A market can ease from its highs while retaining its upward trend, but repeated failures to recover may gradually weaken buyer confidence. Traders will therefore be watching both how far BTC falls and how quickly demand returns.

Momentum cools as $85,000 caps the upside

Bitcoin’s relative strength index (RSI) was near 61, a reading consistent with positive momentum. It remains below the level commonly associated with overbought conditions, leaving room for another rise if buyers regain control.

The moving average convergence divergence (MACD) indicator has cooled but remains slightly positive. 

That combination points to an uptrend that is still present, though less forceful than during the recent rally. Momentum readings can change quickly, so price action around nearby resistance will offer a clearer test.

The first barrier is approximately $85,000. Bitcoin would need to overcome selling around that level to make a stronger case for extending last week’s gains. A failed attempt could keep BTC in a period of sideways trading as buyers and sellers weigh the recent move.

On the downside, the current price area provides the first place to look for support. A more substantial decline would put the 50-day EMA at $77,323 in focus, followed by the longer-term averages near $74,000. Previously established horizontal support levels at $66,500 and $62,300 sit further below.

These levels outline the range of possible tests rather than a forecast that BTC will reach them. For the near term, the contest is much narrower: whether Bitcoin can stabilize above $83,000 and make another attempt at $85,000.

Ethereum’s move below $2,700 and XRP’s consolidation around $1.500 add to the cautious start to the week. 

Both assets are taking a breather alongside Bitcoin, although the figures provided do not establish equivalent support or resistance levels for either token.

For traders following the three largest cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin’s response to $85,000 may offer a useful gauge of broader market appetite. 

A renewed push above that barrier could signal that buyers remain willing to pursue last week’s gains. Continued consolidation, meanwhile, would leave the market waiting for a clearer direction.

Crypto exchange Bitget lost about $388 million in a Sept. 24 breach after an attacker bypassed security controls protecting its exchange wallets. The company has since said it has identified and fixed the vulnerability, though it has not publicly detailed how the attacker gained access.

The exchange had published attacker addresses and offered a 5% bounty for eligible efforts that freeze or recover stolen funds. As the attacker moved those assets through other services, Bitget CEO Gracy Chen publicly asked THORChain over the weekend to refuse the transactions.

“Our attacker addresses are publicly listed and actively tracked. We are formally asking @THORChain to refuse service to these addresses,” she wrote on X. “Decentralization is a design principle, not a shield for facilitating known stolen funds.”

THORChain’s public response on Monday defended its policy of allowing anyone to use the network and distinguished its emergency shutdown controls from an address blocklist.

“A THORChain network halt is an emergency security mechanism designed to protect the protocol,” the project wrote. “A halt is not a selective freeze of specific funds or an individual swap.”

Its operators do have controls that can interrupt trading, the team said. THORChain’s documentation describes settings that stop swaps across every connected blockchain or restrict activity involving a particular chain, such as Ethereum. Using those controls would also interrupt other users’ transactions on the affected routes.

In plain English, puts are relatively pricier than calls, but the relatively richness is barely even noticeable compared to the typical reading of around -4.41 over the past year or so. In other words, puts usually cost a lot more than they do now.

The takeway, therefore, is that bitcoin traders are chasing puts they are not yet positioning for a crash or deep sell-off.

For ether, calls are still more expensive than puts, but the premium has narrowed from a week ago, suggesting that bullish sentiment has cooled.

10x Research also noted an uptick in demand for puts.

“Put demand has jumped over the past few days. The question is whether that is a short-term hedge or the start of a regime shift,” it said on X.

On bitcoin, they still see cheap options, not panic pricing.

“Implied vol is back near cycle lows while realized vol runs 12 points higher, and some Bitcoin options are now priced at 30 vol on a market moving at 42.” Essentially, bitcoin options are still cheap. Stay alert!

Read more: For analysis of today’s activity in altcoins and derivatives, see Crypto Markets Today . For a comprehensive list of events this week, see CoinDesk’s “Crypto Week Ahead.”

U.S. imports of Chinese goods (total items: 77)

Chinese imports of U.S. goods (total items: 1,619)

Bitcoin slid to weekly lows on Monday after earlier upside momentum faded, with traders pointing to a sudden buildup of sell-side orders on exchange books around $85,700. The move triggered notable liquidations, while broader risk sentiment also weakened as US markets reacted to renewed uncertainty over the Iran situation.

TradingView data showed BTC/USD dropping below $82,700 for the first time since Sept. 21, following a strong run that included the pair’s highest weekly close since late January near $84,450. Instead of pushing toward last week’s highs above $87,000, price encountered a concentrated pocket of resistance.

Key takeaways

• BTC/USD fell below $82,700 after failing to retest the prior week’s above-$87,000 highs.
• About $30 million in ask liquidity appeared around $85,700, coinciding with the reversal from higher levels.
• CoinGlass data indicated roughly $70 million of liquidations over 24 hours, primarily cutting into nearby long positions.
• US stock-market futures weakened alongside crude oil strength after President Donald Trump declined to rule out further strikes on Iran.
• Analyst Aksel Kibar warned Bitcoin could revisit the sub-$80,000 area if momentum doesn’t quickly stabilize.

Why order-book liquidity can flip momentum

According to TradingView, BTC/USD turned lower after a decisive attempt at consolidation above $84,450 failed to extend. The most cited microstructure signal was the appearance of a large, clearly defined layer of sell-side liquidity on exchanges around $85,700, with over $30 million clustered near that price.

In practical terms, these “liquidity walls” can matter because they concentrate sell interest at a specific level. If buying demand can’t absorb those resting orders, price may struggle to advance and can even accelerate downward as traders reassess the likelihood of a breakout. The reported timing—after Bitcoin failed to move back toward eight-month highs above $87,000—suggests the market’s attempt at continuation met a predictable obstacle.

Market participants also noted that this kind of conspicuous order-book change often draws attention from larger traders, including those managing hedges or positioning for future moves. Whether the liquidity layer represents genuine long-term supply or more tactical order placement remains difficult to confirm from order-book snapshots alone, but the impact on near-term price action was clear.

Liquidations underscore the speed of the downturn

While order-book data explains the “why” behind resistance, liquidation statistics help show the “how” behind the move. CoinGlass liquidation data, as referenced in the report, recorded liquidations of nearby long positions totaling around $70 million over 24 hours at the time of writing.

When price breaks through key intraday levels, leveraged traders who are positioned on the long side can be forced out quickly. That fast unwinding can compound selling pressure, turning a stalled breakout attempt into a sharper downside move, especially when liquidity is already strained by the presence of a heavy sell wall.

For investors and traders, these figures are less about day-to-day drama and more about confirming that the decline wasn’t purely slow drifting—there was enough leverage in the market to produce liquidation cascades.

Risk-off pressure from US geopolitics and oil

Bitcoin’s weakness also lined up with a deterioration in broader risk sentiment. The report linked the move in crypto to downside in US stock-market futures after President Donald Trump refused to rule out additional strikes on Iran.

In remarks reported by Fox News during the PGA Tour Presidents Cup on Sunday, Trump said: “I don’t want to say that. I don’t want to say that. I mean, it’s possible, but I just don’t want to say that.”

At the time of writing, Nasdaq futures were down about 0.9%, while WTI crude oil moved above $95 per barrel for the first time since Sept. 24. Rising oil prices often feed into wider concerns about inflation, economic activity, and risk appetite—factors that can spill over into crypto even when the immediate catalysts are order-book driven.

For traders monitoring correlations, the takeaway is that Monday’s drop wasn’t isolated to crypto microstructure alone; macro headlines appeared to reinforce a shift toward caution.

What to watch around $85,700 and next support zones

The $85,700 level is now central to the near-term debate. The report described it as the barrier that blocked another attempt to reach the 2026 year-open level at $88,700, where Bitcoin stalled last week.

Even with a strong weekly close previously, the failure to reclaim the path back toward $88,700 suggests bulls still need a clearer sequence of higher highs and higher lows rather than just intermittent pushes. As the price moves, the market will likely treat earlier resistance areas as potential pivot points—turning them into either launchpads or magnets for further selling depending on how quickly Bitcoin can recover.

Analyst Aksel Kibar warned that Bitcoin’s current behavior did not resemble a decisive breakout. In a post on X, he cautioned that hesitant price action can lead to returning inside the familiar range from $60,000 to $80,000—an area the report frames as where BTC/USD spent much of 2026.

The immediate risk highlighted by that commentary is a scenario where the market fails to hold above the recent breakdown area and instead revisits sub-$80,000 territory. In the short term, that means traders should watch for whether downside continues to attract liquidations or whether support reasserts itself quickly enough to prevent a deeper retracement.

Going forward, the key uncertainty is whether the $85,700 order-book pressure dissolves and allows price to rebuild toward $88,700, or whether liquidation-driven weakness and macro jitters keep pulling BTC back toward the $80,000 zone; monitoring both the exchange liquidity changes and broader US risk headlines may offer the most practical signal for the next move.