Saturday, January 31, 2026

Bitcoin Price Plunge — January 31, 2026

What Is the Current Bitcoin Price?

As of January 31, 2026, Bitcoin (BTC) is trading in the $78,000–$82,000 range. After dipping below $81,000 over the weekend, the price saw a slight bounce but has remained broadly unstable. This represents a decline of approximately 36% from its all-time high of $126,198, recorded on October 6, 2025.

Bitcoin's market capitalization currently stands at roughly $1.56 trillion, while the total cryptocurrency market cap has pulled back slightly from around $3.06 trillion.

How Many People Are Searching for This?

Keywords such as "bitcoin price," "bitcoin crash," and "bitcoin price today" recorded high search volumes across 18 countries in late January 2026.

Country Search Volume
🇺🇸 United States (US) 100K+
🇹🇷 Turkey (TR) 8K+
🇨🇦 Canada (CA) 7K+
🇬🇧 United Kingdom (GB) 5K+
🇧🇷 Brazil (BR) 3K+
🇫🇷 France (FR) 3K+
🇪🇸 Spain (ES) 2K+
🇩🇪 Germany (DE) 2K+
🇦🇺 Australia (AU) 2K+
🇮🇩 Indonesia (ID) 2K+
🇹🇼 Taiwan (TW) 1K+
🇵🇰 Pakistan (PK) 1K+
🇮🇹 Italy (IT) 1K+
🇲🇽 Mexico (MX) 1K+
🇮🇳 India (IN) 500+
🇻🇳 Vietnam (VN) 200+
🇯🇵 Japan (JP) 200+
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia (SA) 100+

The United States dominates search volume by a wide margin, with queries like "why is bitcoin crashing," "bitcoin price today," and "btc to usd" trending heavily. Turkey and Canada are also showing notably high interest.

Why Is Bitcoin Crashing?

The sharp decline at the end of January was not caused by a single event — several factors converged at the same time.

1. The Federal Reserve Holding Interest Rates Steady

The Fed kept rates at 3.50%–3.75% at its January 2026 meeting. As expectations for rate cuts diminished, investors began pulling back from risk assets. Bitcoin is highly sensitive to liquidity conditions, so a sustained high-rate environment makes price appreciation more difficult.

2. Massive Outflows from Spot Bitcoin ETFs

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs saw approximately $810 million in net outflows on January 29 alone, and over $1.61 billion in net outflows for the month of January overall. This is widely interpreted as a sign of weakening confidence among institutional investors, and without renewed ETF inflows, further downward pressure on Bitcoin is expected.

3. Geopolitical Tensions and U.S. Political Uncertainty

An explosion at Iran's Bandar Abbas port and a temporary U.S. government shutdown contributed to a deterioration in overall investor sentiment. In such an environment, traders tend to avoid high-volatility assets like cryptocurrencies.

4. Trump's Nomination of a New Fed Chair Candidate

President Trump's nomination of Kevin Warsh as a potential successor to Jerome Powell rattled the crypto market. Warsh is known as an inflation hawk, which raised concerns that future rate cuts could become even less certain.

5. Selling Pressure from Bitcoin Miners

Following the halving event, miner profitability declined, leading to large-scale sales of mined Bitcoin on exchanges. On-chain analytics firm Glassnode noted that this miner selling is creating sustained structural selling pressure that is deepening the price weakness.

6. Capital Rotation into Gold and Safe-Haven Assets

Significant capital has flowed into precious metals like gold and silver, representing a broad rotation away from risk assets including cryptocurrencies. This signals that investors are actively seeking to reduce their exposure to volatility.

7. Excessive Leverage and Mass Liquidations

On January 29, approximately $319 million in positions were forcibly liquidated in a single day, with the majority being long positions. This exposed the degree of overleveraging in the market. Back in October 2025, a mass liquidation event of roughly $19 billion had severely drained market liquidity.

Bitcoin Price Timeline: 2025–2026

Date Key Event BTC Price (Approx.)
Jan 20, 2025 Trump Inauguration ~$110,000
Apr 7, 2025 Q1 Correction Low ~$74,000
Jul 2025 New High Reached ~$123,000
Oct 6, 2025 All-Time High (ATH) $126,198
Oct 10, 2025 Trump Tariff Threat → Mass Liquidation Sharp decline begins
Nov 21, 2025 Correction Low ~$80,000
Jan 8, 2026 Early January Pullback ~$90,000
Jan 29, 2026 ETF Outflows & Sell-Off ~$83,383
Jan 31, 2026 Present ~$78,000–$82,000

What Is the Current Market Sentiment?

According to on-chain analytics firm Santiment, negative sentiment on social media hit a 2026 high after Bitcoin fell below $84,200. The Crypto Fear & Greed Index has entered "Extreme Fear" territory, and analysts note that many investors are approaching a capitulation phase — a point where widespread panic selling intensifies before a potential reversal.

That said, on-chain data shows Bitcoin's network hash rate remains near all-time highs, and long-term holders continue to show notable activity, suggesting that the network's fundamental strength has not deteriorated.

What's the Outlook?

Analysts are divided on where Bitcoin heads from here.

Some believe the current sell-off is deeply oversold, and historical patterns suggest that bounces tend to emerge when fear gauges hit extreme lows. On the other hand, Glassnode has flagged a $1.25 billion short gamma pocket near the $80,000 level, warning that a break below it could trigger a test of the $70,000 area.

Over the longer term, Bitcoin's fixed supply cap of 21 million coins, the steady expansion of institutional participation, and the possibility of eventual Fed rate cuts are all cited as key factors that could support a recovery.

Sources & References

Related Trend Links (TrendNow)

Explore the global search trends for this topic directly on TrendNow below.

🔍 TrendNow (https://trend-now.org)


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