Bitcoin (BTC) is being capped at $87,500 thanks to manipulation by one or more whales, new analysis says.

The latest market coverage by trading resource Material Indicators on March 20 reveals why BTC/USD is stuck in its current range.

“Spoofy the whale” gets blame for BTC price range

Bitcoin has managed to sustain $80,000 as support for more than a week while hitting two-week highs of $87,500 on March 20. 

Despite following broad volatility across risk assets, BTC/USD may have gone even higher were it not for maneuvers of large-volume trading entities on exchange order books.

Looking at global trading platform Binance, Material Indicators argued that shifting blocks of ask liquidity above price were keeping it pinned in a specific area — a classic manipulatory device known as “spoofing,” which has often been used by whales in the past.

“If you are wondering why Bitcoin price hasn’t been able to rally past $87.5k yet, the reason is price suppression from Spoofy the Whale,” it summarized in a post on X.

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

An accompanying chart shows that the liquidity in question currently sits at $89,000. It also tracks investor order classes, showing all but the largest “whale” transactions distributing.

Discussing the data, Material Indicators hinted that support at the recent multimonth lows of $76,000 was insufficient as a firm market floor.

Bitcoin bulls keep up battle for key trend lines

Meanwhile, popular trader Daan Crypto Trades said that the current low-timeframe area of interest at $84,000 was essential for bulls going forward.

Related: Bitcoin futures ‘deleveraging’ wipes $10B open interest in 2 weeks

“The bulls would want to hold on to the $84K-$85K region to keep the momentum. Otherwise you’re at risk of visiting those lower liquidity clusters which then can end up in a full retrace as price is still choppy,” part of his own X post explained.

“Local market structure is trying to shift to a small uptrend but the bulls need to step in and keep it that way or it will just be a quick deviation/short stop hunt.”

BTC/USDT liquidation heatmap. Source: Daan Crypto Trades/X

Daan Crypto Trades paid additional attention to the 200-day simple moving average (SMA) and exponential moving average (EMA), key bull market trendlines that bulls are currently in the process of trying to flip to support at around $85,000.

BTC/USD 1-day chart. Source: Daan Crypto Trades/X

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.