Bitcoin Retreat Deepens After Repeated Rejection At $80,000, Traders Turn Cautious

Bitcoin’s retreat deepened after repeated rejection at $80,000, with CoinDesk describing crypto traders turning cautious as bitcoin lost steam below that level and took ether with it.

“Crypto traders turn cautious as bitcoin loses steam below $80,000 Bitcoin drops after repeated resistance at $80,000, taking ether with it, while derivatives and macro signals point to reduced risk appetite and subdued volatility”

@coindesk

In CoinDesk’s market recap, bitcoin and ether “fell around 0.75%” after the largest cryptocurrency “twice failed to break $80,000,” and the move was paired with “weakening U.S. demand signaled by a negative Coinbase premium index.”

@coindesk

CoinDesk also tied the timing to a failed breakout attempt “during Asian hours on Monday,” after bitcoin “twice failed to break above the $80,000 level of resistance over the past week.”

The article framed the shift as a reversal from “last week’s jump to $79,500 from $70,000,” saying that “the jubilation… is beginning to subside as several key price indicators flip bearish.”

CoinDesk added that U.S. equities were set to open down on Tuesday, with “Nasdaq 100 futures trading 0.5% lower since midnight UTC” and the “U.S. dollar index (DXY) is up by 0.25%.”

It also placed macro pressure in the background, noting “Stalled peace talks between Iran and the U.S. continue to drive traditional markets” and that “Brent crude oil is now firmly above $105 per barrel.”

CoinDesk reported that derivatives activity cooled alongside the price retreat, describing a broad reduction in participation and forced liquidations.

Across the market, it said “crypto futures open interest (OI) has fallen by over 1% to $120 billion in the past 24 hours,” and paired that with “a 3% decline in trading volume and an 8% drop in liquidations.”

CoinDesk

The same section connected those changes to less aggressive positioning, stating that “Fewer open positions, lower participation and reduced forced liquidations indicate less aggressive trading overall.”

For bitcoin specifically, CoinDesk said “Bitcoin's options-to-futures open interest ratio has dropped to 57.5%, the lowest since Jan. 31,” and described it as “a sign of renewed bias for directional bets and higher short-term volatility.”

It also reported that “Bitcoin's futures OI fell to 723.54 BTC, down over 9% from the recent high of 796.71 BTC,” and linked the move to “persistently negative funding rates.”

CoinDesk emphasized that those negative funding rates “stem from institutional hedging and not outright bearish bets,” even as it noted that “risk reversals in options show puts trading at a premium in both BTC and ETH.”

It further added that “Bitcoin and ether’s 30-day implied volatility indexes are hovering at three-month lows,” framing the volatility backdrop as subdued “amid macro pressures such as elevated oil prices and unresolved U.S.–Iran peace talks.”

While CoinDesk described altcoins as underperforming bitcoin overall, it also highlighted selective moves that contrasted with the broader caution.

“Bitcoin slips below $80,000: the bear market takes hold”

Cryptoast

It said “Altcoins underperformed bitcoin overall,” pointing to CoinDesk’s “Memecoin Select Index (CDMEME) and DeFi Select Index (DFX) tumbling by 1.6% and 1.2%,” while “the bitcoin-dominant CoinDesk 20 (CD20) benchmark lost just 0.8%.”

Within that weaker tape, CoinDesk singled out “apecoin (APE) bucked the bearish trend, rising by more than 17%,” and it tied the move to positioning shifts by adding that traders “liquidating a $1 million short position in the process.”

CoinDesk also reported that “Privacy token zcash (ZEC) was the worst-performing altcoin in the CoinDesk 100 (CD100), losing 5.6% since midnight UTC,” and said it was “closely tracked by CHZ and HYPE, which were down by 3.9% and 3.5%, respectively.”

The same market recap included a note on broader “Altcoin Season” conditions, saying CoinMarketCap’s indicator “remains in a neutral zone at 39/100.”

It also described how flows and options activity clustered around a key price level, stating that “the $80,000 strike bitcoin has been the most actively traded in 24 hours, both in volume and open interest.”

CoinDesk’s derivatives section added that “DOGE's open interest stands out, having climbed 6% in the past 24 hours,” with “OI at 14.39 billion tokens is the highest since Oct. 10.”

Cryptoast framed the same $80,000 area as a threshold breach that “triggered a massive wave of liquidations across the entire crypto market,” and it presented the move as the start of a broader downturn.

Cryptoast wrote that “Bitcoin breached a psychological threshold on Saturday, January 31, 2026, slipping under the $80,000 mark,” and said the cryptocurrency was “currently trading around $79,035, down 6.05% over the last 24 hours.”

@coindesk

It described the liquidation impact as “nearly $1 billion in liquidations in 24 hours,” and characterized the broader selloff as sweeping “Precious metals, stocks, cryptocurrencies: no asset has been spared.”

Cryptoast then listed specific 24-hour losses at the time of writing, including “Bitcoin (BTC): -6.22% (at $78,900 currently)” and “Ethereum (ETH): -10.81% (at $2,400).”

It also reported “Solana (SOL): -11.63% (at $100)” and “Cardano (ADA): -11.40% (at $0.28),” along with “Ripple (XRP): -9.88% (at $1.56)” and “Binance Coin (BNB): -8.87% (at $780).”

For the week-long picture, Cryptoast said “over a week, Bitcoin's decline stood at 11.35%!” and added that “for Ethereum, the loss reaches up to 18.45% in a week” and “for Solana 18.33%.”

It also linked the downturn to a prior move in precious metals, stating that “on Friday, January 30, 2026, gold fell 9.6%, dropping from about $5,600 to $5,000,” while “silver 26.29%” and “palladium 15%” were also cited.

Cryptoast’s narrative then shifted to institutional flows, saying the downturn “could be foreseen by watching the massive outflows from US Bitcoin ETFs” and that “On January 29, the 11 US-listed funds posted net outflows of $817.9 million.”

Cryptoast’s “bear market” framing extended beyond the immediate drop by tying the move to a longer decline from an all-time high and by pointing to specific support levels.

“Crypto traders turn cautious as bitcoin loses steam below $80,000 Bitcoin drops after repeated resistance at $80,000, taking ether with it, while derivatives and macro signals point to reduced risk appetite and subdued volatility”

CoinDesk

It stated that “On October 5, 2025, the world's leading cryptocurrency stood at $126,272, its all-time high,” and said “Since then, Bitcoin has fallen more than 37%.”

CoinDesk

Cryptoast then connected that drawdown to its definition of a bear market, writing that “which corresponds to the bear market definition (a drop of more than 20% from the ATH that has lasted for several months).”

It also laid out “the next support levels to watch” as “at $77,164, then $73,000,” presenting them as the key reference points for whether the decline continues or the market rebounds.

In contrast, CoinDesk’s recap emphasized a more cautious, hedged posture rather than a full bear-market narrative, noting that “funding rates and options data point to cautious, hedged positioning.”

CoinDesk also described how the market’s volatility pricing was subdued, saying “Bitcoin and ether’s 30-day implied volatility indexes are hovering at three-month lows.”

Taken together, the two articles show different lenses on the same $80,000 area: Cryptoast highlights liquidation scale and ETF outflows, while CoinDesk highlights derivatives cooling and hedging signals.

Cryptoast added that the outflows had been ongoing since “January 16,” saying “with $2.7 billion of outflows in just two weeks.”

It also described the day’s broader market impact as “The worst day of 2026 for crypto trackers,” reinforcing its emphasis on severity.

CoinDesk, meanwhile, pointed to the market’s immediate structure, saying “the $80,000 strike bitcoin has been the most actively traded in 24 hours, both in volume and open interest,” which kept the $80,000 level central even as price slipped below it.