Bitcoin Holds $86k as Tom Lee Says Worst Is Over
Bitcoin (BTC)
Editor:
Eugene Serbin
bitcoinethereumnews.com reported that Bitcoin (BTC) traded at $86,423 on Tuesday, recovering from below $76,000 a week ago. Tom Lee and iTrustCapital’s CEO, Kevin Maloney, stated that the worst is now behind investors following a US interest rate hike and a failed crypto bill, the CLARITY Act. They argued that the market has cleared its recent negative sentiment. The outlet noted that both men made their case after these specific macroeconomic and legislative events.
How the market reacted
Whalio's own Binance spot order flow for BTC, measured when this story was written up on 22 September 2026. Not the outlet's figures.
BTC is currently trading at $86,620.00, showing a slight price increase from the reported baseline. However, short-term buying pressure is fading, with the buy ratio dropping to 37.0% over the last hour compared to 40.2% over the last four hours. This contrasts with the 24-hour buy ratio of 51.8%, indicating that while buyers held the majority of positions yesterday, they are losing ground today. The Volume Delta reflects this shift, sitting at -$7,519,751 for the hour and -$73,104,059 for the four-hour window, meaning sellers are currently outpacing buyers. Over the full 24 hours, the Volume Delta is +$94,075,438, but the Cumulative Volume Delta (CVD) closed at -$200,598,274, showing that net selling pressure dominated the day despite the positive delta figure. Only 3 out of 24 hours saw net buying, highlighting a weak session.
The latest daily buy ratio of 46.7% sits at the 18th percentile of the last 322 days, against a median of 49.2% - weaker buying than most days.
Was that an ordinary day?
The same Binance spot measurements for BTC, averaged over the days leading up to the story.
This trading day follows a week where the coin saw significantly stronger activity. Over the preceding seven days, the average buy ratio was 51.9%, which is slightly higher than today's 24-hour reading of 51.8%. Volume was 2.23 times the average, indicating a much busier period than usual. While the coin experienced net buying on 5 of the last 7 days, today's 3 days of net buying out of 24 hours represents a sharp contraction in sustained buying interest. The price rose 10.8% over the eight-day period, supported by a total Volume Delta of +$418,456,661, but the current hourly flow suggests a pause in that momentum.