Bitcoin Crashes to $84K As Market Faces One of January’s Biggest Wipeouts

Bitcoin saw a sharp reversal during U.S. morning trading on Thursday, sliding quickly toward the $84,000 level after failing to hold recent gains.

Source: Tradingview

The price drop saw many long positions settled out, with more than $650 million in long positions liquidated, as per CoinGlass data from January 29. This was the second-largest liquidation in the past month, reflecting how congested the market had become during the period of consolidation.

Bitcoin was trading well above $90,000 at the start of the week, drawing in new momentum traders who were hoping to see it reach six figures.

However, the sudden turn of events has highlighted just how fragile the market was. Once the level of $85,000 was broken, stop losses and margin calls triggered a rapid decline. This is indicative of panic selling.

Bitcoin Eyes Lower Demand Zones Near $80,000 and $75,000

Technically speaking, the price of Bitcoin has recently altered its movement. For several months, it has been forming higher lows within a rising channel, relying on the trend line as its support.

This held until it consistently failed around the $94,000 to $96,000 area, which has been acting as a ceiling in January. The failure to reclaim this area was the decisive factor. When Bitcoin dropped below its rising support level, the selling pressure intensified.

Source: X

The former support level became a new resistance level, preventing any attempts to reverse the trend. Breaking below the final defense area in the low $90,000s indicated that the sellers were in control.

On the negative side, the target areas indicate the presence of demand in the low $80,000s, with further support in the $75,000 and possibly $70,000 areas.

Hashrate Slowdown Adds To Uncertainty

But aside from the price charts, the data on the network indicated stress. The hashrate of Bitcoin decreased in January 2026, after the peak in late last year.

According to X post from Lark Davis on January 29, there are several reasons for this slowdown: the diversion of mining power to artificial intelligence tasks, restrictions in Asia, and weather-related shutdowns in North America.

However, Bitcoin’s mechanism is helpful in this situation. The mining difficulty will decrease if the conditions are not ideal, which will stabilize the blocks. In previous cycles, large hashrate decreases during stressful periods were seen near local price lows.

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