Bitcoin pundits wary after 'spoof city' sours BTC price gains at $77K

Bitcoin ( BTC ) preserved $76,000 into Nov. 9 as “spoof city” kept BTC price action pinned in a narrow range.

BTC/USD 1-hour chart. Source: TradingView

Bitcoin still “underperforming” after trip to $77,200

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView captured familiar trading conditions for BTC/USD: heavy volume and new all-time highs .

The latest record came in at $77,270 on Bitstamp, but was short lived — liquidity was shifting around exchange order books, leading observers suspicious.

“Spoof city again today,” popular trader Skew responded in a post on X.

“Asks walking price down bids causing price to bounce.”

BTC/USDT 1-minute chart with liquidity data. Source: Skew/X

Skew referred to the practice of order book “spoofing” — large bands of liquidity placed at a given level, only to be thinned out or removed completely after price reacts. Such behavior is common in crypto but banned on legacy markets.

Elsewhere, trading resource Material Indicators pinpointed a moment when one or more whale entities attempted to break through BTC price resistance with major buying on largest global exchange Binance.

BTC/USDT order book liquidity for Binance. Source: Material Indicators/X

“I know it is weird to say after a week like this but BTC is acting weird and underperforming,” popular commentator WhalePanda told X followers, continuing the skeptical mood.

“When it broke ATH in the past the moves are always aggressive upwards. Now it barely moves up. The higher the marketcap the more is needed but inflows are massive so who is unloading.”

Bitcoin ETF flows cool after giant new record

Considering what might come next, meanwhile, popular trader CrypNuevo maintained that a “long squeeze” could come before the weekly close.

Related: Bitcoin can go ‘parabolic’ with BTC price weekly close above $71.5K — Analysis

This would involve a sharp downward BTC price move liquidating late long BTC entries on the back of the latest all-time highs.

“$77k hit - liquidations hit,” he summarized alongside order book data covering Binance.

“Now yes... potential long squeeze in the making to shake-out some longs.”

BTC liquidation heatmap (screenshot). Source: CoinGlass

As ever, the long-term view was firmly skewed to favor the bullish narrative. In his latest X update, longtime commentator Pentoshi saw the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) driving demand going forward.

“I find it unlikely, we see those prices again after trading so long in this range, we see more ETF demand,” he wrote, referring to the eight-month consolidation period that followed Bitcoin’s old all-time high in March. 

“We are seeing that in the US some states are interested in holding it, and that retirement funds will begin to allocate. Global adoption will only INCREASE from here. It's on a unstoppable path, any big pullbacks are a gift.”

US spot Bitcoin ETF netflows (screenshot). Source: Farside Investors

The spot ETFs took in $293 million on Nov. 8, per data from UK-based investment firm Farside Investors — more than $1 billion less than the record inflows from the day prior.