Bitcoin Breaks Below $80,000 as January Deleveraging Deepens
Bitcoin fell below $80,000 at the end of January amid ETF outflows, liquidity concerns and cascading risk-off pressure, forming the opening stage of the bear-market episode that deepened in early February.
On January 31, 2026, Bitcoin fell below $80,000 and traded around $78,700 during a sharp weekend decline. Reuters tied the move to mounting liquidity concerns after Kevin Warsh was selected as the next Federal Reserve chair, with investors focusing on his preference for a smaller Fed balance sheet. Bitcoin had already lost roughly one-third of its value from its October 2025 record high, and the late-January break pushed the market into a visibly more defensive phase.
The decline also coincided with sustained institutional outflows. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded about $1.6 billion in net outflows during January, one of their worst monthly results since launch. The price break therefore reflected more than a single intraday move: institutional flows, leverage and broader risk appetite were all moving against Bitcoin at the same time.
The January 31 event is preserved as the opening stage of the 2026 bear-market and deleveraging episode. Retrospectively, the deeper February collapse would confirm that the hoped-for quick return to the late-2025 highs had failed. January 31 deserves its own entry because it captured the first clear break into that new phase, while the later February event records the separate moment when the bear market became unmistakable.