Not every climb deserves applause, and Bitcoin’s latest one certainly feels like it is asking for it without fully earning it. Hovering just above $84,500 at press time, BTC is technically higher, but what stands out more than the price itself is the shape of the move: a rising wedge.

It is not the most exciting pattern to talk about, but it is a relevant one because it tends to show up when enthusiasm starts thinning out even as prices are still drifting upward.

Higher highs and higher lows — sure — but on paper, and maybe only on paper, because the energy behind the push does not seem to be there. Volume has been underwhelming. Every pop looks like it is waiting for someone to believe in it, and not enough people are stepping in. 

These kinds of moves, where momentum narrows and participation fades, tend to carry a certain quiet warning: not that a crash is imminent but that trust in the trend is being quietly withdrawn.

Then there is the matter of the weekend. When BTC slipped to $77,000 the previous week, MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor stepped in with another one of his headline-making buys, and the market followed him — as it often does. The bounce was real, but its sustainability is still in question. 

Historically, those Saylor buys are revealed about a day later, which means the market had two days of feeling stronger than it probably was, held up mostly by that single act and the chain reaction of liquidations that followed it.

Monday is where things usually normalize, especially with the CME open. If the usual post-buyback behavior repeats, a dip, maybe back to $79,000, is not far-fetched.