Bitcoin experienced a sharp decline on Thursday, January 29, 2026, falling below $85,000 for the first time in nearly two months. The world's largest cryptocurrency dropped as much as 5.7% to $84,233, marking its lowest level since December 1. This significant breakdown followed weeks of sideways trading and highlighted the fragile sentiment across the broader crypto market.
The selloff was not isolated to Bitcoin. Major altcoins suffered even steeper losses, with Ether (ETH), XRP, Dogecoin (DOGE), Cardano (ADA), and Solana (SOL) all falling by 6% or more. The sharp price movement triggered a massive wave of forced selling in derivatives markets. Data from Coinglass shows that approximately $785 million worth of digital assets were liquidated over the past 24 hours, with more than half of those liquidations occurring in just the last four hours as key technical support levels were breached.
The liquidation surge added further downward pressure to spot prices, amplifying volatility and accelerating the decline across major cryptocurrencies. This downturn extends a broader pullback that has persisted in crypto markets since early October, despite recent rallies in technology stocks and precious metals like gold and silver.
The crypto selloff mirrored a wider risk-off mood across global markets. Technology stocks led the decline, with Microsoft shares collapsing more than 11%—their worst one-day fall since March 2020—following a report of slowing growth in its cloud business. This dragged the Nasdaq Composite lower by roughly 1.5%.
Precious metals also reversed violently. Gold, which had briefly climbed above $5,600 per ounce earlier in the session (having never traded above $5,000 before Sunday night), plunged nearly 10% within minutes during US morning trade, falling back below $5,200. Silver followed a similar trajectory, sliding from around $121 per ounce to $108.
Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have also come under strain. According to data from SoSoValue, bitcoin ETFs have recorded $160.1 million in net outflows so far this week, extending a pattern of capital leaving these products amid market turbulence.
Julio Moreno, head of research at CryptoQuant, noted that this pullback represents the first meaningful stress test for bitcoin ETFs since their rapid growth last year. Moreno highlighted that cumulative ETF flows peaked at $72.6 billion on October 10, 2025, and have since seen $6.1 billion in net outflows, reducing ETF holdings to about $66.5 billion—an 8.4% drawdown from the peak.
"If price holds above ETF realized price, it gives this cohort a reason to stay invested. If it fails, ETF flows risk shifting from passive consolidation into active distribution. Right now, Bitcoin is trading at the line where ETF conviction is tested," Moreno wrote.
