Bitcoin slips below $88,000 after Fed holds rates; $2.9 trillion wiped from crypto market

Bitcoin dipped to a low of $87,677 early on January 29 before recovering to $87,830 but down 1.09 percent over the last 24 hours. The broader crypto market slipped after the US Federal Reserve held interest rates steady at 3.5 percent–3.75 percent, wiping $2.9 trillion off the market.

“The drop was led by bitcoin’s falling below $88,000 amid low liquidity and cautious sentiment. The cryptocurrency, however, stayed rangebound between $86,000–$91,000, with open interest concentrated near $90,000 ahead of Friday’s options expiry. For now, crypto markets appear locked in consolidation-active, but waiting for a decisive macro or technical catalyst,” said Riya Sehgal, Research Analyst, Delta Exchange.

CoinSwitch Markets desk said, “From a technical perspective, $90K remains key resistance, with a sustained break required to unlock upside toward $91K–$92K, while $89K continues to act as strong near-term support, where buyers have repeatedly stepped in.”

Ethereum was down 1.95 percent, Tehter 0.03 percent, XRP 1.67 percent, Solana 3.16 percent, Dogecoin 2.20 percent, and Cardano 2.04 percent. While BNB and USDC traded flat, Tron was up 0.46 percent in the past 24 hours.

“Bitcoin started the day’s trade on a bearish note while the rest of the top 10 cryptos remain consolidated within the same range. Some altcoins like Worldcoin, Canton and Jupiter continue to show strength by surging above 14%, 5.35% and 5.5%, respectively. Besides, River plunges hard by 39.28%, followed by LayerZero by 12.24% and Zcash, Tezon & Dash by more than 7% each,” said CoinDCX Research Team.

Here’s how the price of cryptocurrencies moved on January 29 as of 9:54 am IST.

 Why is Bitcoin down? 

“The overall market sentiments have slightly dropped into fear. Gold continues to mark new highs, which has negatively impacted the crypto markets as the liquidity appears to have rotated into traditional assets,” said CoinDCX Research Team.

According to Avinash Shekhar, Co-Founder & CEO, Pi42, bitcoin’s inability to sustain a move above $90,000 is more indicative of short-term hesitation than structural weakness. “The fact that bitcoin is hovering near key technical zones with clearly defined liquidation thresholds shows that participants are positioning carefully around upcoming catalysts rather than exiting aggressively,” he said.

“Derivatives data suggest positioning has tightened, keeping volatility contained for now. As macro clarity improves and liquidity conditions normalise,” Shekhar said. Bitcoin’s ability to defend the range should support the next leg of the move toward higher levels, including the $95,000.

What’s happening in the crypto market?

Here’s a rundown of the crypto market according to WazirX founder Nischal Shetty and CoinDCX research team:

• Global macro conditions continue to influence crypto markets. A weaker US dollar and record highs in gold are driving interest toward scarce assets such as Bitcoin. However, ongoing ETF outflows and broader economic uncertainty are keeping risk appetite measured.

• XRP millionaire wallets rise for the first time since September, adding 42 wallets with more than a million tokens. On the other hand, on-chain data suggests that long-term holders have sold about 143K BTC in the past 30 days, the fastest since August.

• Tesla clarifies none of their BTCs were sold in Q4, 2025. The SEC has released guidelines clarifying how federal securities laws apply to tokenised securities.

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