Gold Rush, Bitcoin Tanks Below $88,000 in 2026 Biggest Selloff

Crypto markets have wiped out all gains this year as Bitcoin fell sharply on fears of an escalating trade war and turmoil in the Japanese bond market.

Total market capitalization is down 4% on the day as markets have lost more than $200 billion since the weekend. Bitcoin led the losses in early trading in Asia on Wednesday morning, falling below $88,000, but the US appears to be leading the sell-off.

BTC has now lost 10% in seven days as it falls to support levels. However, the bullishness indicates that it is in a two-month range-bound channel and will continue to strengthen.

Higher volatility was forecast for Tuesday following public holidays in the US on Monday, with markets reflecting on President Trump's latest round of tariff threats against Europe.

“The cryptocurrency market crashed on January 21, mainly from President Trump's renewed threat of 10-25% tariffs on European/NATO countries in the Greenland dispute, sharp Japanese government bond sell-off from a broad risk-off sentiment,” said Andri Fauzan Adziima, head of research at Bitrue.

Tariffs, Japanese bonds and geopolitics

Trump's trade war isn't the only thing affecting crypto markets today.

“Much of today's market volatility is coming from Japan,” said Liz Thomas, head of investment strategy at Sophie.

Ole Hansen, Head of Commodity Strategy at Saxo Bank, explained: “The steady growth of the long-term JGB [Japanese government bond] It offers signs that one of the world's most reliable liquidity bulwarks is fading, extending beyond Tokyo.

Pressure on global liquidity will first affect riskier assets like crypto and tech stocks, while safer assets like gold and commodities will benefit.

Michael van de Pop, founder of MF Fund, said that if gold continues to gain, “there is a lot of panic in the market as people get into riskier assets.”

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#Bitcoin vs gold is collapsing.

The current price of #Bitcoin has never been lower compared to gold.

The same goes for the 2022 and 2018 seasons, those fall seasons.

Gold will continue to accelerate upwards, the more vertical it will be, the faster we will find it… pic.twitter.com/GpnlFzC8M8

— Michael Van de Pop (@CryptoMichNL) January 20, 2026

Elsewhere on Crypto Markets

The broader crypto market is bloody today, with Ether falling 7% to drop below $3,000 again to hit $2,925, returning to December lows.

There were also big losses for Binance Coin, Monero and Hyperliquid, but most altcoins were down 3-4% on the day. Canton (CC) was bucking the trend with a 12% gain on the day.

Total market capitalization has fallen to the lower limit of the sideways channel at $3.08 trillion at the time of writing. Key support should hold here to avoid falling into a full bear market and a long crypto winter.