Bitcoin sinks as market goes risk-off

Bitcoin sank below $76,000 Tuesday morning, and not even news around a bitcoin strategic reserve that might materialize “in the next few weeks” seems to be helping the asset, so here we are, with bitcoin stuck in a tight range once again.

Patrick Witt, executive director of the president’s Council of Advisors for Digital Assets, hinted at a “big announcement” around the reserve at the 2026 Bitcoin Conference in Las Vegas. The move comes 13 months after President Trump signed the executive order establishing it. 

Bitfinex analysts said that “the path of least resistance” in the near term is likely consolidation or a pullback toward the $75,000 region, with a decisive break above $80,000 required to confirm a more durable bullish regime.

“The data suggests that, heading into the upcoming FOMC week, markets will favor a phase of consolidation or even a technical retest of the $75,000 level, before any sustainable acceptance above $80,100 can be convincingly established,” they said, adding that this leaves bitcoin in a transition phase, where strong inflows alone are no longer sufficient to drive the price higher, and where the next move depends on whether demand can overcome this growing layer of sell-side pressure.

Speaking of flows, bitcoin ETFs reverted to outflows, ending a nine-day positive run, their longest winning streak since early October. The funds saw $263.18 million in outflows on Monday, according to SoSoValue. 

As several analysts have previously noted, bitcoin ETF flows have been a major driver of the asset’s price since the Iran war began, but a sustained reversal could quickly undermine support.

In addition to navigating macro and geopolitical risks, bitcoin is also facing a “broader framework of policy divergence and liquidity repricing,” Dean Chen, a Bitunix analyst, told Sherwood News. 

“Against this backdrop, BTC has failed to sustain prior upside momentum. After approaching the $80,000 level, the price has rotated lower, shifting into a long liquidation phase,” Chen said.

Chen said that liquidation heat maps show a renewed concentration of long-side liquidation risk in the $77,000 zone, while the $80,000 range above continues to act as a short-side pressure and liquidity cluster.

He said that this creates a classic bidirectional inducement structure, where both upside and downside moves are incentivized by leveraged positioning.

“Macro uncertainty — driven by central bank path divergence and ongoing energy price transmission — has yet to produce a clear directional signal,” Chen said.