New York, January 21, 2026, 10:32 (EST) — Regular session
Bitcoin slid on Wednesday and stayed pinned below the $90,000 mark as traders nursed a fresh bout of risk aversion. The cryptocurrency was down 0.7% at $89,930, after earlier dipping to $87,897.
The drop comes a day after markets swung hard on President Donald Trump’s renewed tariff threats toward Europe tied to Greenland, a shock that knocked Wall Street to its biggest one-day drop in three months. U.S. investors are also staring at a busy week of data, including January PMI readings and the personal consumption expenditures report, the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge.
Volatility gauges jumped as investors sold stocks, long-dated Treasuries and the dollar. “We’ve certainly seen a meaningful reaction in the risk metrics,” said Jim Carroll, senior wealth adviser and portfolio manager at Ballast Rock Private Wealth, adding it was not yet “hair on fire.” Reuters
Crypto bulls had their own headline to digest. Strategy said it bought about $2.13 billion worth of bitcoin over eight days through Jan. 19, funded via its at-the-market share offering program, according to a filing. “Stopping would be as much a signal to the market as purchasing more,” said Nic Puckrin, an analyst and co-founder of Coin Bureau. Reuters
Spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds — ETFs that hold bitcoin and trade like shares — also saw money leave. U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs recorded a $479.7 million net outflow on Jan. 20, with outflows in funds including BlackRock’s IBIT, Fidelity’s FBTC and Grayscale’s GBTC, data from Farside Investors showed.
Ether was also softer, down about 1.3% at $2,990, after touching an intraday low near $2,903.
Crypto-linked stocks were steadier in early New York trading, bucking the day’s spot price drift. Coinbase was up about 1.4% and Strategy shares were up about 2.1%.
The broader mood still looks defensive. Gold surged past $4,800 an ounce, extending a safe-haven run as the Greenland dispute rattled markets. “There’s a bit of fear of missing out on this trade,” said RJO Futures senior market strategist Bob Haberkorn. Reuters
The split has revived an old argument: hedge or risk asset. “Bitcoin isn’t quite doing the thing that it’s built to do, at least in real time,” Alex Thorn, head of research at Galaxy Digital, said in an interview cited by Investopedia, while Bitunix analyst Dean Chen described bitcoin as “living in a split narrative” between crypto-native holders and broader markets. Investopedia
Options traders are not exactly leaning into a quick bounce. Derive.xyz said bitcoin options markets imply roughly a 30% chance BTC falls below $80,000 by the June 26 expiry, and noted traders are paying up for downside protection — a sign the market is still bracing for another leg lower if macro shocks keep coming.
In Davos, SkyBridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci said the pullback looked more like timing than a break in the long-term case, but he also pointed to how slowly Washington has moved on broader crypto rules, including the Clarity Act.
For now, traders are watching the next turn in the Greenland-tariff dispute, with EU leaders set to meet in Brussels on Thursday, Jan. 22, to discuss possible responses including tariffs on U.S. imports.
