Bitcoin down for fourth consecutive month, its longest losing streak since 2018

Bitcoin is down 5.53% this month, making it bitcoin’s worst January since 2022. Unless the asset rallies over the weekend, it will be its fourth consecutive monthly loss, according to CoinGlass.

This drop marks the longest losing streak for bitcoin since 2018, “when the unraveling of a boom in so-called Initial Coin Offerings sent the market into a downward spiral,” Bloomberg reported.

Gracy Chen, CEO of Bitget, told Sherwood News that the current crypto market downturn is primarily driven by heightened risk aversion amid escalating geopolitical crises, with investors preferring traditional safe havens over volatile digital assets.

“This shift reflects broader market behavior where bitcoin and other risk assets are treated more like high-beta plays tied to risk appetite, while real assets outperform during periods of stress,” Chen said.

Key indicators Chen is watching include trading volumes for signs of capitulation or rebound, and RSI (relative strength index) readings for oversold conditions that could signal stabilization and renewed buying interest. 

Meanwhile, crypto liquidations reached $1.8 billion in the past 24 hours, CoinGlass data shows. Bitcoin suffered $792.78 million in liquidations, with the bulk of them — $752.57 million — in long positions.

Bitcoin ETFs also saw a massive $817.87 million exodus on Thursday, bringing the total weekly outflows to $978 million, per SoSoValue.

Bitfinex analysts said that bitcoin’s dip extends its losses to a six-day streak, one of the longest since November 2024.

“Total liquidations today are approaching $800 million and may exceed $1 billion when including less visible on-chain activity. At the same time, bitcoin ETF outflows have accelerated, signaling increased institutional caution,” they said.

The analysts said that despite the move, the dip below $85,000 appears consistent with a short-term, lower time frame shakeout, as some retail buying has emerged around $84,000, forming a tentative short-term base.

“Larger passive demand remains stacked in the $75,000-81,000 range, though the true intent of these bids will only be confirmed if price approaches those levels,” they said.

Marissa Kim, head of asset management at Abra, told Sherwood that since President Trump took office, asset performance has been shaped less by traditional fundamentals and more by a breakdown in old monetary and market cycles. 

“The idea of predictable four-year crypto cycles effectively ended when roughly a quarter of the money supply was created in under two years,” Kim said. 

Kim said that while many debasement trade assets have performed extremely well last year and this year, bitcoin performance has lagged.

“One reason for this divergence could be fallout from the flash crash that the crypto ecosystem experienced on October 10 due to a Binance pricing issue that many in the industry say caused several large market makers to suffer losses and/or exit the markets,” Kim said.