Why Is Crypto Down Today? – January 30, 2026
The crypto market is down today. It fell 5.8% over the past 24 hours, below $3 trillion, now standing at $2.89 trillion. Significantly, 97 of the top 100 coins saw their prices decrease in this period. The total crypto trading volume stands at $207 billion, notably higher than in the previous days.
- Crypto market cap is down 5.8% on Friday morning (UTC);
- 97 of the top 100 coins and all top 10 coins have gone down;
- BTC decreased by 6.5% to $82,389, and ETH fell 7.9% to $2,721;
- Bitcoin saw a wave of long liquidations, pushing the price down;
- This dip below $83,500 could lead to a retest of the November low around $80,000;
- Arthur Hayes linked BTC’s pullback to a sharp contraction in USD liquidity rather than crypto-specific factors;
- As BTC matured into an institutional asset, the volatility that once attracted retail participants diminished;
- ‘Factors such as the stabilization in long-term holder selling and progress on US market-structure legislation could act as catalysts’;
- BTC’s underperformance compared to gold ‘is a source of frustration for crypto investors’;
- Peter Schiff said that people should’ve bought gold or silver instead of BTC;
- Both US spot BTC and ETH ETFs posted outflows of $817.87 million and $155.61 million, respectively;
- Crypto market sentiment posted a significant drop, moving toward the extreme fear zone.
Crypto Winners & Losers
On Friday morning (UTC), all top 10 coins per market capitalisation have seen their prices decrease.
Bitcoin (BTC) fell by 6.5%, currently trading at $82,389.
Ethereum (ETH) is down 7.9%, changing hands at $2,721. This is the highest drop in the category.
The second-highest fall is 7.7% by Lido Staked Ether (STETH), currently standing at $2,727.
Binance Coin (BNB) is next, with a 6.9%, now trading at $840.
The smallest decrease among the top 10 is 1.4% by Tron (TRX), changing hands at $0.2897.
Furthermore, of the top 100 coins per market cap, 97 have posted price decreases today.
Of these, five saw double decreases. Mantle (MNT) is at the top with a 11.7% rise to $0.792.
It’s followed by Worldcoin (WLD)’s and Hyperliquid (HYPE)’s 10.9% each to the prices of $0.458 and $29.23, respectively.
Pump-fun (PUMP) fell the most, with the only double-digit drop of 10% to $0.003001.
River (RIVER) is next, having dropped 7.3% to the price of $50.56.
On the green side, we find Canton (CC), Figure Heloc (FIGR_HELOC), and LEO Token (LEO).
These are up 8.9%, 1.3%, and 0.3% to $0.1754, $1.04, and $9.22, respectively.
Meanwhile, former BitMEX chief executive Arthur Hayes argued that Bitcoin’s recent pullback is connected to a $300 billion contraction in U.S. dollar liquidity rather than crypto-specific factors.
“$BTC falling not a surprise given the fall in $ liquidity,” Hayes wrote, linking this decrease to macro forces instead of sentiment shifts within the crypto market itself.
A Source of Frustration for Crypto Investors
Kraken’s Global Economist Thomas Perfumo commented that global liquidity remains constrained, and this has capped crypto performance.
Therefore, BTC’s underperformance compared to precious metals, gold especially, “is a source of frustration for crypto investors.”
The macro backdrop seems supportive, with falling interest rates and rising geopolitical uncertainty. This should, investors expect, be beneficial to crypto as a hedge against currency debasement and political instability.
“Yet despite rate cuts, global liquidity, the factor with the greatest influence on crypto market performance remains tight, underscoring that interest rates are only one component of overall liquidity conditions. By contrast, gold historically benefits from a weakening U.S. dollar.”
Another notable thing is a cultural shift we’re currently seeing. “As Bitcoin has matured into an institutional asset, the volatility that once attracted retail participants has diminished,” Perfumo writes.
However, he warns that “this transition is not permanent.” Rather, its impact on BTC’s narrative “appears to be a matter of patience.”
Perfumo concludes: “For now, gold is absorbing flows from more risk-sensitive investors, but any meaningful re-rotation of capital could quickly force a reassessment of relative performance, a setup reinforced by the prevailing cynicism of crypto-native investors. Factors such as the stabilization in long-term holder selling and progress on U.S. market-structure legislation could act as catalysts for that shift in flows.”
Moreover, VP at Kraken Matt Howells-Barby added that Bitcoin has felt the impact of the recent AI-related worries.
Big Tech is investing in AI heavily, but no corresponding earnings justify this spending. Investors have paused to reassess their risk appetite, he says.
Bitcoin saw a wave of long liquidations, pushing the price down. A dip below the $83,500 level could lead to a retest of the November low around $80,000.
Levels & Events to Watch Next
At the time of writing on Friday morning, BTC was changing hands at $82,389. In the first part of the day, BTC traded sideways at the 87,900 level. However, it plunged to $83,400 and then to the intraday low of $81,314.
Over the past week, BTC is down 7.7%, trading in the $82,005-$90,475 range. Moreover, it decreased by 6.8% in a month.
Now that it dipped to the $81,300 level, BTC could proceed to fall below the $80,000 mark to $79,800. This would further take it towards $75,000.
Bitcoin Price Chart. Source: TradingView
At the same time, Ethereum was trading at $2,721. While initially trading at the $2,900 level, ETH quickly dropped, first to $2,800, and then to the day’s low of $2,705.
It is also down 7.2% in a week, moving between $2,715 and $3,034. Additionally, in the past 30 days, ETH fell by 8.1%.
ETH has seen a significant drop over the past day. Should it stay red, it will revisit the $2,630, $2,550, and $2,490 levels.
Meanwhile, the crypto market sentiment recorded a significant decrease since this time a day ago, as the market pulled back.
The crypto fear and greed index currently stands at 28, compared to 38 recorded yesterday. This drop moved the metric deep within the fear territory, towards extreme fear.
The decrease in sentiment is not surprising given the overall market fall. Participants are highly cautious and increasingly worried in the face of unfavourable economic and geopolitical signals seen over the past week.
Source: CoinMarketCap
ETFs Go Deep Red
The US BTC spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) closed the Thursday session with significant negative flows. They recorded $817.87 million in outflows on 29 January. This is the largest minus since 20 November 2025. The total net inflow decreased to $55.52 billion.
Of the twelve ETFs, eight have gone red, and none are green. BlackRock is at the top, with $317.81 million in outflows. Fidelity and Grayscale follow with negative flows of $168.05 million and $156.56 million, respectively.
Source: SoSoValue
The US ETH ETFs also posted inflows during the Thursday session, letting go of $155.61 million. The total net inflow stands at $12.23 billion.
Of the nine ETH ETFs, five saw outflows. Fidelity recorded the highest negative flows on this list of $59.19 million. BlackRock is next with $54.88 million in outflows.
Source: SoSoValue
Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s value against gold fell near 2017 levels, economist Peter Schiff noted.
“Most people who now own Bitcoin would have been better off buying gold or silver instead,” he wrote.
Quick FAQ
- Did crypto move with stocks today?
The crypto market saw a notable decrease over the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, the US stock market closed the Thursday session with a somewhat mixed picture, but mostly down. By the closing time on 29 January, the S&P 500 was down 0.13%, the Nasdaq-100 decreased by 0.53%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose by 0.11%. This came as the investors were digesting US earning reports. Microsoft and software companies’ shares also pushed the TradFi market lower.
- Is this drop sustainable?
For now, yes. The market could continue dropping in the short term, pulled down by various economic and geopolitical factors. That said, it’s typical for the crypto market to recover swiftly, even if briefly. Though there are no major reasons to worry at the moment, analysts are observing if we’ve entered a bear market.
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