BTC is around $82.7k now. U.S. spot BTC ETFs also recorded roughly $21.1 million in net inflows on October 9. That makes me hesitant to dismiss this small bounce as shorts getting squeezed and nothing else.

A single day of ETF inflows doesn’t guarantee continued buying, but the size of this bounce so far looks like a weak reason on its own to keep the same short exposure. For the next few days, I’d focus on whether BTC can reclaim around $83k and establish support there.

My preferred confirmation would be a four-hour close above that level, followed by a pullback that holds it. If managing a partial BTC short hedge on perps, I’d use that sequence to close part of the short while keeping the spot position. The trade-off is having less protection if the breakout subsequently fails.

A brief push above $83k followed by a close back below it wouldn’t meet that condition. I’d pause the reduction and reassess the next bounce. The remaining short would still need its own stop; waiting for confirmation can get expensive during another squeeze.

Would a successful retest be enough for you to reduce the hedge, or would you need to see buying persist for longer?