Bitcoin plunged below $85,000 on January 29, 2026, marking its sharpest decline in months. The cryptocurrency behemoth bottomed out at $83,156 on Bitstamp, with an intraday low of $83,383 — a painful 6.4% drop. After the bloodbath, it hovered around $84,500, still nursing a 5% daily wound.
Bitcoin crashed below $85K on January 29, 2026, plummeting 6.4% to $83,156 amid widespread market carnage.
The carnage wasn’t pretty. Over $800 million in liquidations. More than 212,000 traders got wrecked, mostly long positions. Half a billion dollars wiped out in just four hours. Brutal. Trading volume exploded to $48 billion as panic selling gripped the market.
It wasn’t just Bitcoin feeling the pain. Ethereum tumbled over 6.5%, though it managed to stay above $2,800. The broader crypto market correction coincided with traditional markets taking a hit too. Microsoft shares plummeted 12%. The Nasdaq-100 shed 2.2%. Bitcoin’s market cap shrank to $1.72 trillion, evaporating billions in paper wealth.
The Federal Reserve played party pooper. Powell and company left rates unchanged and didn’t signal any easing. The Fed Chair pointed to 4.4% unemployment and labor market resilience. The unchanged interest rates were a significant factor contributing to the increased market volatility and subsequent price declines. What was supposed to be a non-event turned into a classic “sell the news” scenario for crypto. Go figure.
Meanwhile, gold was having its moment, breaking above $5,600 before spectacularly crashing $400 in just 30 minutes. Silver hit $120 as capital rotated between assets. Despite the sell-off, Bitcoin’s long-term growth potential remains strong due to its limited supply cap of 21 million coins. Bitcoin’s performance? Lackluster compared to the precious metals drama.
Technical analysts are nervously eyeing the $84,000 support level. If that breaks, look out below. A break under this critical threshold could trigger a deeper retracement toward $72,000 as indicated by multiple chart patterns. The $91,000 level remains distant resistance, with bearish targets as low as $52,000 if things get really ugly.
External factors didn’t help. Five straight days of ETF outflows totaling $1.137 billion. US-China rare earth tariff tensions. Options markets screaming fear, with 97% of calls underwater. The Fear and Greed Index hit 26, and whale activity kept a lid on prices.
Not Bitcoin’s finest hour.
