Bitcoin drops below $90k on bearish and long-term bond selling pressure.
Bitcoin (BTC) fell below $90,000 in the New York trading session on Tuesday, amid an increase in long-term selling. Large holders also left their positions, keeping the downward pressure in place.
Main Receptors:
Bitcoin falls below $90,000 as whales deposit more than $400 million in exchange.
Long-term holders will accelerate profit collection by selling 68,650 BTC/day starting January 17.
Bitcoin analysts see $84,000–$86,000 as a support zone to dive into.
Whales dump BTC as the long-term sell-off intensifies
Data from CryptoQuant's whale screener highlighted a “second strong selling push” that pushed Bitcoin's price below $90,000.
The whale tracker monitors over 100 active whale wallets with real-time deposits and withdrawals of Bitcoin and other major currencies, moving in and out of exchanges.
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The chart below shows that whale wallets deposited over $400 million worth of BTC into the exchange on January 20th as indicated by the orange arrow in the chart below.
“This marks the second major BTC deposit in a short period of time, after the $500 million seen on January 15,” CryptoQuant analyst Amr Taha said in his latest Quicktake analysis:
“Historically, large BTC deposits indicate that exchanges are ready to sell, or at least increase liquidity for distribution.”
As Cointelegraph reports, a whale shift to the exchange signals higher sell-side pressure for Bitcoin, threatening a deep correction towards $80,000.
Other data suggest that a deleveraging phase is underway as long-term bond (LTH) selling pressure increases.
LTH's net position change has been negative since early January as 68,650 BTC were traded in the last 30 days.
In other words, holders are locking in profits during rallies, including the last one up to $97,000.
One silver lining for the bulls is that LTH sales hit an area low in mid-December 2025 before BTC recovered from $84,000 on January 5 to $94,700 on December 19.
Bitcoin price to revisit $84,000 before the drop
Cointelegraph reports that $90,000 is key for Bitcoin bulls and that missing it would trigger another downtrend.
The BTC/USD pair is trading at $89,000 at the time of writing, with the next support line sitting at $87,300, which is the 100-week SMA or simple moving average.
Below that, a key area of interest lies between the psychological level of $84,000 reached on November 22 and the local low of $80,500.
“Bitcoin will be divided into regions and will start to decline as geopolitics escalates,” MN Capital founder Michael Van de Pop said on XPost on Wednesday.
The accompanying chart shows that the price is nearing a support level that stretches from $84,000 to $86,000, and the four-hour RSI is “sold to $80,000 just as the decline.”
“We don't see a reversal, just a short-term crossover.”
According to Cointelegraph, a break and close below the 20-day EMA ($92,000) and 50-day SMA ($90,000) could push Bitcoin price down to $84,000, where it could establish support.
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