Bitcoin retreats to $91,000 after hitting sell wall
Bitcoin fell back to around $91,000 on Tuesday, after briefly touching $94,000 the day before. The pullback wasn’t exactly surprising if you look at the order book data. There was nearly $100 million in sell orders stacked up across major exchanges in that $94,000 to $95,000 range. That’s a lot of selling pressure waiting to hit the market.
It acted like a ceiling, really. The price ran into it and just couldn’t push through. Once the upward momentum stalled, traders started taking profits. I think that’s what we saw—people who bought in early 2025 around the $91,000 level decided to lock in some gains after the recent volatility.
Market structure drives the move
This wasn’t really about sentiment changing dramatically. It was more about market mechanics. When the price couldn’t break through that resistance, leveraged traders began exiting their positions. That accelerated the drop back toward $91,000.
Most of the short-term downside liquidity has been taken out now. There might be one more move toward the $90,500 to $90,800 level before things reverse. That’s what the charts seem to be suggesting, anyway.
Underlying demand remains strong
Despite the price action, the broader picture still looks okay. On-chain data shows some interesting things happening. The Bitcoin-to-stablecoin reserve ratio on Binance has started rising again. That means traders are holding more stablecoins relative to Bitcoin.
What does that tell us? Well, it suggests there’s buying power sitting on the sidelines. People are waiting for better entry points rather than chasing breakouts. They’re more likely to deploy capital during pullbacks like this one.
This gradual buildup of liquidity often comes before consolidation phases. The price might bounce around within a range for a while before making its next big move. It doesn’t usually support sharp rallies in the short term, but it does provide a foundation.
Institutional flows continue
Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded about $697 million in net inflows on January 5th. That pushes cumulative inflows close to $58 billion. What’s interesting is that these inflows continued even while Bitcoin was struggling near resistance.
That tells me this is more about long-term positioning than speculative momentum. There’s a growing divide in the market right now. Long-term buyers keep accumulating, while short-term traders react to technical levels and liquidity clusters.
This dynamic explains why Bitcoin couldn’t sustain gains above $94,000 without triggering broader panic selling. There weren’t any signs of heavy exchange inflows or aggressive distribution from long-term holders during the drop.
For now, everything points toward consolidation rather than a major reversal. Clearing that $95,000 level will probably need sustained spot demand, thinner sell-side liquidity, and follow-through across risk markets.
Until that happens, pullbacks toward the low $90,000 range seem consistent with a market that’s just digesting recent gains. It’s not necessarily a bad thing—just part of the process.
