For the first time under President Donald Trump’s administration, Bitcoin slipped below $100k to hit an intraday low of $97,791. The day was marked by a massive liquidation event, with $931.08 million wiped out in the past 24 hours, with long positions accounting for $826.18 million, according to Coinglass data. The overall crypto market capitalization dropped alongside Bitcoin, reaching levels last seen the week before Trump’s inauguration. Upon writing, the value stood at $ 3.57 trillion after dipping over 6% on the day. Market sentiment flipped slightly bearish as broader market events pushed the crypto fear and greed index down by 3 points from the previous day. Why did Bitcoin crash today? Bitcoin dropped over 7% in the past 24 hours due to multiple reasons. First, the market reacted to concerns over DeepSeek, a Chinese AI platform that dethroned its leading competitor, ChaitGPT, designed by US-based Open AI. DeepSeek’s rapid ascent, achieved with significantly lower development costs, raised fears about the competitiveness of Western tech firms. This led to a selloff in technology stocks, with companies like Nvidia experiencing substantial declines. The downturn in tech equities spilled over into the crypto market, as CryptoQuant notes that Bitcoin has remained closely correlated with the performance of the US stock market over the past months. Bitcoin also crashed as hopes of a rate cut waned during the upcoming FOMC meeting set to be held on January 29. According to the CME FedWatch tool, the chances of a rate cut were at a mere 0.5% during publication. For traders, this hawkish stance is typically viewed as a bearish signal, as it diminishes the appeal of risk assets. Another potential reason behind today’s drop was increased selling pressure from long-term Bitcoin holders who cashed in on some profits from the Trump inauguration rally. Crypto analyst Ali Martinez cited Glassnode data on January 26, highlighting that long-term holders had offloaded over 75,000 BTC in the past week alone. What’s next for Bitcoin price? Despite the sudden crash, the market appeared to be stabilizing at the time of writing, with Bitcoin recovering to trade back above $100k. Some of the momentum returned after corporate Bitcoin hoarder MicroStrategy bought the dip with a whopping $1.1 billion purchase. The recovery was also expected by several market experts who predicted that the recent correction was part of the ongoing rally and that BTC was trading within an expected range. According to pseudonymous analyst Credible Crypto, Bitcoin’s move to the lower end of the range is a healthy correction, as it allows the market to take liquidity from the lows while leaving liquidity intact at the highs, potentially paving the way for a stronger recovery. At the same time, fellow analyst Ether Wizz told their followers that the flagship crypto’s broader structure remains intact and bullish despite the recent volatility. Similarly, trader Kevin Svenson added that today’s volatility doesn’t change the long-term outlook for Bitcoin. The bellwether crypto remains in a strong parabolic trend that could push its price well above its current all-time high of $108,786, per a chart shared by Svenson. Currently, $100,000 is a key psychological level that traders need to watch. If bulls manage to hold above this level, it could help BTC rebound back towards its all-time high. When writing, Bitcoin was priced at $100,9998, down roughly 4%. Altcoins see deeper losses Losses were more pronounced across the altcoin market as a vast majority of the top 99 tokens posted double-digit losses. The altcoin season index dipped two points in the past 24 hours to 46, reflecting the heightened bearish sentiment across the altcoin market. AI tokens were the biggest losers due to the DeepSeek scare. Yet some tokens managed to remain profitable. The top gainers for the day were: DeXe DeXe (DEXE) led the highest daily gains among the largest 100 crypto assets tracked by CoinGecko. The Decentralized exchange was up 8% over the last 24 hours at a 5-year high of $21.46, while its market cap was seated at over $1.2 billion at press time. Source: CoinMarketCap The majority of the gains seen over the past day were likely amid community excitement after the project revealed nearly 20% of DEXE’s circulating supply has been locked in staking. Such a large portion of staked tokens is expected to enhance liquidity for the DeXe DAO and the projects launched on the platform. Further, developers have revealed their roadmap for this year with key planned events, including the launch of the DeXe protocol on the Ethereum blockchain, locking the DAO treasury on the protocol, and the introduction of staking for the DeXe DAO. Mantra Over the past day, Mantra (OM), a layer 1 blockchain focused on real-world asset tokenization, rose 6%, trading at $4.71 per coin while bringing its market cap to over $4.5 billion when writing. Source: CoinMarketCap Today’s gains could likely be attributed to the recent call from BlackRock’s CEO to the US Securities regulator to approve the tokenization of bonds and stocks. The project has also partnered with DAMAC, a real estate company based in Dubai, to tokenize around $1 billion in real estate projects. Bittensor Bittensor (TAO) recovered back from today’s market downturn climbing 3.8% over the previous day and trading at $465.9 per coin at press time. Its market cap was seated at $3.77 billion, making it the third-largest AI token in the market, while its daily trading volume was over double the previous day at nearly $500 million. Source: CoinMarketCap Most of the gains likely came ahead of the community’s anticipation of the launch of Dynamic TAO on the Layer-1 blockchain’s mainnet. Following its launch, users can choose which subnet they want to stake their tokens to, potentially earning more subnet tokens depending on the liquidity of the subnet. The post Crypto price update: BTC crashes below $100k; DEXE and TAO defy bearish market trend appeared first on Invezz
