Grafa logo

Sign in

Bitcoin sentiment turns bearish as BTC dips below $89K

Written by Brie CarterPublished Jan. 23 2026Last Updated Jan. 23 2026

Share

Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) fell below the $90,000 level again, extending losses and weakening short-term market confidence.

Prediction markets show rising expectations of a deeper pullback as traders reassess near-term risks.

Users on prediction platform Myriad increased the probability of Bitcoin falling to $69,000 from 22% to 30% in under 24 hours, marking a sharp shift in sentiment.

The same odds stood at just 11.6% a week earlier, underlining how quickly bearish views have intensified.

Bitcoin dropped 6.7% over the past seven days and traded near $89,000, down about 1% over the last 24 hours, according to data from CoinGecko.

Despite the recent pullback, Bitcoin has printed higher highs and higher lows since the start of 2026, maintaining a broadly bullish structure.

That trend carried Bitcoin to a January 15 peak near $97,000 before momentum stalled.

At that peak, Myriad users assigned an 87% probability that Bitcoin would move on to $100,000.

Market volatility spiked over the weekend following geopolitical headlines linked to Donald Trump.

Proposed plans to annex Greenland and impose tariffs on European countries triggered a sharp risk-off reaction across global markets.

The initial sell-off wiped out roughly $865 million in leveraged crypto positions within 24 hours.

Bitcoin briefly rebounded to $90,000 after Trump paused the Greenland and EU tariff proposals.

The rapid reversal contributed to around $2 billion in total liquidations during the whipsaw period.

Analysts say Bitcoin is increasingly trading like a macro-sensitive asset rather than a pure crypto-native play in 2026.

In the short term, Bitcoin’s weakness is driven by a clear absence of interest from large players at current levels.

Georgii Verbitskii said.

Due to geopolitical uncertainty, investors are defensive with their capital.

He added.

Verbitskii is the founder of TYMIO, a non-custodial Web3 platform.

Derivatives data support the cautious tone seen across spot markets.

Aggregated open interest has hovered between 240,000 and 265,000 BTC for roughly ten days, signalling limited new capital inflows.

This stagnation has contributed to choppy price action and reduced follow-through on rallies.

Weakness is not limited to Bitcoin, with several major altcoins under pressure.

Even strong altcoins are struggling, like Avalanche, which is down roughly 66% since September, despite having worked with major institutions such as JPMorgan and WisdomTree.

Ryan Li said.

This shows how unforgiving the market has become, especially for altcoins.

He added.

Li is the chief executive and co-founder of Surf, an AI-driven crypto insights platform.

Analysts note that gold’s strong performance has diverted attention away from Bitcoin as a hedge asset.

Verbitskii described the current phase as a period of risk repricing rather than panic-driven capitulation.

He added that sentiment could stabilise if larger market participants return, but uncertainty is likely to persist in the near term.

At the time of reporting, Bitcoin price was $89,289.37.