Bitcoin Network Experiences Temporary Chain Split at Block 961639

BTC trades at $77,813.61 with momentum indicators flashing short-term exhaustion near the upper Bollinger band.

The split, briefly

FarsideUK confirmed the event: miners produced competing valid blocks at height 961639. Chain splits of this nature typically self-resolve within a few blocks as nodes converge on the heaviest valid chain, but they open a narrow window of confirmation uncertainty. For traders running automated strategies keyed to block-depth assumptions or finality thresholds, this is not abstract — exchange feeds can momentarily diverge, reorg depth becomes a live variable, and any platform still relying on the orphaned branch faces a temporary liquidity sink until convergence.

Price structure and momentum

BTC holds at $77,813.61, compressed inside its Bollinger Bands. Upper band resistance sits at $80,517.97; lower support at $77,687.92. The higher-timeframe structure stays bullish:

• Price above EMA50 at $76,757.63
• EMA200 at $69,792.28 provides the deeper macro floor
• RSI at 44.09 — neutral, no overbought reading

The short-term signals, however, diverge. A MACD death cross printed at 445.31, flagging momentum exhaustion before any meaningful test of the $80,517 ceiling. The Bollinger compression amplifies the setup — price coiling near the upper band without a clean breakout, while the MACD turns down. That combination is not bearish on its own, but it removes the tailwind that bulls typically need to clear resistance.

Levels worth tracking

The split itself rarely produces sustained directional flow. The operative signal is the MACD configuration, not the consensus anomaly. Concrete levels to anchor the trade:

• $77,687.92 — lower Bollinger band; a clean break shifts bias neutral
• $76,757.63 — EMA50; loss here weakens the bullish frame
• $80,517.97 — upper band; a close above neutralizes the death cross warning
• $69,792.28 — EMA200; the macro floor on any deeper drawdown

Verdict

The chain split is an engineering footnote unless it persists, widens, or triggers visible reorg activity across major pools. The MACD death cross is the actionable signal — it points to short-term exhaustion before any test of the $80K psychological level. Position sizing on long exposure through that resistance should account for the momentum gap. Until one of two conditions resolves — the death cross reverses, or price prints a decisive close above $80,517 — the tape reads cautious-bullish rather than confirmed bullish.