ETF Outflows Accelerate as Bitcoin Tests Critical $84,000 Support Level
The leading cryptocurrency experienced a drastic decline on Thursday and is trading at approximately $83,600 to $84,400 – the lowest level in two months. Within 24 hours, Bitcoin has recorded a loss of up to six percent, after the digital currency had reached prices above $90,000 the day before.
Altcoins show even steeper declines: Ethereum loses 6.4 percent and trades at $2,800, while Solana drops 6.8 percent to $117. Bitcoin’s market capitalization has fallen to around $1.72 trillion, while daily trading volume has surged to approximately $48 billion.
The price collapse triggers massive liquidations in the futures markets. More than $800 million in leveraged positions were forcibly closed within a single day, with long positions bearing almost $700 million of the losses. On the Hyperliquid platform alone, a position worth $31 million was liquidated. Market data shows that sell volume swelled to approximately $4.1 billion within just two hours, indicating aggressive forced sales in the futures sector. The movement thus differs from gradual selling pressure on spot markets and instead reflects rapid deleveraging of excessively leveraged positions.
Traditional Markets Give Up Gains
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The crypto market moves in parallel with turbulence in traditional financial markets. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite plunges more than two percent, wiping out much of its year-to-date gains, while the S&P 500 declines 1.1 percent. Microsoft shares collapse more than twelve percent and trade at around $422, after the technology company exceeded profit expectations but a slowdown in cloud revenue growth unsettled investors.
Even precious metals, which had previously recorded significant gains, are correcting: Gold falls 0.6 percent to $5,300 per ounce, after trading above $5,600 on Wednesday. Silver loses 0.8 percent to $112 per ounce. Analysts also point to geopolitical tensions between the US and Iran as well as the upcoming deadline to avert a partial government shutdown as additional pressure factors.
Institutional demand through exchange-traded Bitcoin funds is weakening noticeably. On eight of the past nine trading days, US spot Bitcoin ETFs record net outflows, with the products losing $1.8 billion in total. Market observers emphasize that ETF demand alone is insufficient to offset sustained selling pressure, even though the fund group has attracted more than $56 billion since its launch. The discrepancy between positive annual inflows and negative price performance in the current year illustrates that other factors are currently dominating the market.
Critical Support Levels Are Being Tested
From a technical perspective, Bitcoin is moving within a ten-week consolidation range between $94,000 and $84,000, which has bounded the price since mid-November 2025. After a brief breakthrough above $90,000, the cryptocurrency fails to sustainably overcome the resistance at $91,000, triggering renewed selling pressure. The level at $84,000 is now considered critical support – a sustained break below it could open deeper corrections toward $72,000 to $68,000. Recent losses have already pushed Bitcoin to the lower end of the multi-month trading range, with buyers needing to aggressively defend this area to prevent a broader technical breakdown.
Market analysts interpret the current phase as a correction within a larger cycle rather than a structural collapse. The quarterly return shows a decline of 26 percent since July, suggesting a shift in market structure following a strong expansion phase. Multiple times, declines in open interest on futures of eight to ten percent have coincided with local price lows, such as in February, April, and November 2025.
These recurring patterns suggest aggressive deleveraging phases that mark exhaustion on the selling side rather than trend continuation. For the coming week, the White House is planning a meeting with banking and crypto leaders on February 2 to revive stalled legislative negotiations – particularly regarding the treatment of interest and rewards on dollar-pegged stablecoins.
