5 Bitcoin levels that decide between $97K and $67K

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

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Oct 20, 2026 · based on the channel Gareth Soloway

Crypto traders watching Bitcoin got a clear answer this week: the market is range-bound, and the two numbers that matter are $81,000 and $87,200. Bitcoin flushed to roughly $79,750, then closed back above $81,000 support, keeping the bullish structure intact. Anyone mapping entries and exits can open an account through Coinbase tier-one fee pricing and follow the same charts Gareth Soloway used in his breakdown.

Why Bitcoin is holding up while the AI trade slides

Bitcoin's resilience is the story of the week, because the AI trade and the Nasdaq have been sliding while BTC refuses to break its $81,000 floor. That relative strength is unusual: crypto has historically traded as a high-beta risk asset, so when tech momentum unwinds, Bitcoin usually follows with a bigger move. Instead, price keeps hammering the same support line and bouncing, which tells you buyers are still defending the level.

Gareth Soloway's read is that the bullish structure remains intact as long as that line holds on a daily closing basis. He also flags an important nuance: he holds no swing position in Bitcoin, long or short, while price sits inside a roughly $6,000 range. That is not a bearish call — it is a risk decision. Trading the middle of a range means paying spread and slippage for a move that has no edge, and getting whipsawed on both sides.

The five levels that define the crypto game plan

A level-by-level plan is what separates a trade from a guess. Here are the five numbers that structure the current Bitcoin setup, in the order price would reach them.

1. $81,000 — the line in the sand. This is support that has been tested repeatedly, including the flush to about $79,750. A daily close below it flips the structure and activates the bear case.
2. $87,200 — the upside trigger. Nothing on the long side counts until Bitcoin closes above this level. Below it, price is simply inside the range.
3. $95,000-$97,000 — the confluence target. Above $87,200, three separate factors line up in this zone: a rising trend line, a measured move off the consolidation, and prior pivot highs.
4. $75,500 — the first buy zone. A daily close under $81,000 opens this level, where Soloway would commit only 25% of his intended position.
5. $67,000 — the load zone. The rest of the position is planned here, the area he describes as the place to go heavy if the market gives it.

The order matters. Each level only becomes relevant after the previous one is confirmed by a daily close, which keeps the plan mechanical instead of reactive.

Three upside factors converging near $97,000

The bullish case is not one signal but three that overlap, which is why the $95,000-$97,000 zone carries weight. First, a rising trend line projects into roughly $91,000 and continues climbing — Soloway notes it could carry that target into late November, meaning the confluence zone rises over time rather than sitting static. Second, a measured move off the consolidation projects $96,000 to $97,000, a standard technique that takes the height of the range and adds it to the breakout point. Third, prior pivot highs sit in the same area, marking where sellers previously stepped in.

When a trend line, a measured move and old pivot highs land within a couple of thousand dollars of each other, traders get a defined target rather than a vague hope. The condition is strict: the upside only counts above $87,200. A wick above that number without a daily close is noise, not a breakout.

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

A daily close below $81,000 is the trigger that opens $75,500, and the plan there is deliberately partial. Soloway would buy only 25% at that level, keeping most of the capital dry for the $67,000 zone where he plans to load the rest. He has said publicly, including to Crypto Banter, that he would consider going all in on a deep flush — but only with the ladder already defined, not as an emotional reaction to red candles.

He also maintains that the cycle low is in until proven otherwise. That stance is falsifiable by price: a daily close below $81,000 followed by acceptance at lower levels is the evidence that would challenge it. Until then, dips are treated as buying opportunities inside a larger uptrend, not as the start of a new bear market.

Ethereum and HBAR setups on the altcoin side

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, and size positions accordingly rather than buying the middle.

HBAR offered a different kind of trade — a swing setup shared with Smart Money Crypto members on a retrace to what Soloway calls the scene of the crime, the prior level where price previously reversed. The target sits near $0.10. The lesson is transferable: retracements to a broken or defended level give a defined risk point, which is exactly what a range-bound Bitcoin does not offer right now.

Common questions traders keep asking

Viewers repeatedly raise the same practical issues, and they are worth answering directly. The first is how to short Bitcoin or altcoins on Coinbase — spot accounts do not offer shorting, so bearish exposure requires derivatives or a different venue, which is a key reason a plan must match the platform. The second is fee sensitivity: several traders say Coinbase fees and spreads are too expensive, which is why tier-one pricing through an affiliate link matters for anyone trading a $6,000 range where costs eat the edge.

The third is subscription fatigue — some viewers want the analysis but cannot yet pay for a research service, and the honest answer is that the levels themselves are free: $81,000, $87,200, $95,000-$97,000, $75,500 and $67,000 are public information. The fourth is emotional trading. As one commenter put it, many people do not know enough to have a game plan in the first place — which is precisely the gap a written ladder closes.

Final takeaway

The Bitcoin setup is a range with two doors: a daily close above $87,200 opens a run toward the $95,000-$97,000 confluence, and a daily close below $81,000 opens $75,500 and then $67,000. Sitting in the middle with no position is a legitimate choice, and it is the one Gareth Soloway is making while the market decides. Ethereum's sub-$2,000 buy zone and HBAR's retrace toward $0.10 follow the same logic of defined risk. The author of this breakdown is the Gareth Soloway channel, and traders who want the same charting setup can start with Coinbase tier-one fee pricing.

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