Bitcoin fell below $90,000 on January 21. The decline extends a broader pullback that has been accompanied by a sharp wave of forced unwinds in the crypto derivatives market.
Within the 12-hour time frame, Bitcoin traded as low as $89,162 before you settle down $89,368down about 1.9% from the session. The move also pushed the Relative strength index [RSI] to -33.7. This level generally indicates weakening momentum after continued selling pressure.
Source: TradingView
A leverage flush, dominated by long liquidations
Liquidation data showed the sell-off was largely driven by the removal of long-side leverage.
According to MintGlass figures, total number of liquidations reached $708.88 million in the last 24 hours. $648.78 million was from long positions vs $60.09 million of shorts.
Source: Coinglass
There have been a total of liquidations in the past twelve hours $466.40 millionagain heavily skewed to longs [$422.68m] compared to shorts [$43.72m].
CoinGlass also reported that 166,432 traders were liquidated during the 24-hour window.
This type of imbalance usually indicates a market that was positioned for continuation or a recovery. However, it was sidelined as spot prices fell, leading to successive stopouts.
Bitcoin leads the downturn as traders keep an eye on key levels
With Bitcoin losing the $90,000 mark, attention will likely shift to whether the price can quickly regain that psychological level, or whether sellers will continue to defend it in any recovery.
From a market structure perspective, the combination of a sub-$90,000 print and an RSI of around 30 degrees suggests the move has entered a more fragile phase.
These upswings can occur, but are often volatile and sensitive to headline-driven risk sentiment and funding positioning.
Yet the clearest signal from the data is positioning. The lopsided liquidation shows that the market has been aggressively deleveraging. This can sometimes reduce short-term selling pressure once forced liquidations slow down.
Final thoughts
- Bitcoin breaking below $90,000 coincided with a leverage reset, with around $708.9 million liquidated within 24 hours and longs taking most of the hit.
- With an RSI near -34 on the 12-hour chart, BTC is weakening at support, making the next moves around $90k an important indicator of sentiment and positioning.