Bitcoin (BTC) experienced a sharp price reversal on Saturday, January 3, 2026, dropping below the $90,000 psychological level. The decline was triggered by reports of U.S. military action in Venezuela, including airstrikes in the capital city of Caracas. Data from TradingView showed BTC price action reversing from highs near $90,940 on Bitstamp, falling to around $89,750 within an hour of the news breaking.
The geopolitical catalyst was significant. Early Saturday morning, loud explosions were reported across Caracas around 2:00 am local time (0600 GMT), with flames and smoke seen emanating from the Port of Caracas. The timing followed escalating tensions, as U.S. President Donald Trump had deployed a navy task force to the Caribbean and openly raised the possibility of ground strikes. Trump later announced on Truth Social that Venezuela's President had been captured and "flown out of the country." While official confirmation linking the explosions directly to U.S. action was pending, major news outlets reported the Trump administration was aware of the incident.
Market reaction was swift and reminiscent of past patterns. The crypto community expressed frustration, with trader Ash Crypto stating, "US is attacking Venezuela. And it's happening exactly when crypto is trying to recover." Analyst Crypto Rover echoed this, calling the timing "incredibly frustrating." Throughout 2025, Bitcoin had repeatedly shown sensitivity to geopolitical and macro events, and this incident confirmed that trend continuing into 2026.
Despite the sell-off, several analysts maintained a bullish near-term outlook. Analytics account @Wealthmanager noted short-term selling pressure but viewed the move as a potential temporary pullback, with a recovery likely if the situation didn't escalate further. Their target remained $96,000–$100,000 for the coming days and weeks. They also highlighted that CME Group's Bitcoin futures market had closed the week above $90,000, potentially creating a new "gap" and upside price target.
Other commentators pointed to the return of traditional finance (TradFi) players after the weekend as a key factor. Crypto analyst Lennaert Snyder warned, "There's a lot of geopolitical tension and next week the big players will return. So we'll probably see more volatility on Bitcoin after the weekend." Michaël van de Poppe described Bitcoin's move as a "classic" Venezuela reaction, maintaining that the direction for January was upward as long as BTC remained above the 21-day simple moving average at $87,850.
The event also sparked discussion about Bitcoin's relationship with gold. Bulls noted Bitcoin's relatively strong performance against gold over the New Year period. After gold (XAU/USD) reached new all-time highs of $4,551 per ounce on December 26, it fell by up to 6%, while BTC/USD gained up to 5%. Trading resource Bull Theory commented, "An important thing to remember is that the last time Bitcoin started its parabolic rally was after Gold made the top. So if $4550 was the top for Gold, this could be the start of money rotation from Gold to BTC."
