Bitcoin briefly climbed toward $92,000 on Jan. 9 after the U.S. Supreme Court delayed its decision on the legality of the Trump administration’s reciprocal tariffs. The move faded fast. By around midday Eastern time, BTC had given back most of the rally, liquidating roughly $20 million in short positions over four hours and sliding back into the $90,000 to $92,000 range.
The bounce came after earlier weakness had pushed bitcoin below $90,000. According to the report, several major centralized exchanges had sold an estimated $3 billion worth of BTC before the court-related rebound. That left the market highly reactive, and the delay in the ruling briefly flipped sentiment before the retracement erased most of the gains.
Why the tariff case became a crypto catalyst
Traders had been focused on the liquidity implications of the court case. One widely followed theory held that if the tariffs were ruled illegal, refunds could reach roughly $133 billion to $140 billion. Supporters of that view argued that such a capital injection could spill into markets and help bitcoin challenge the $100,000 psychological level.
There was a competing macro view as well. Skeptics said an adverse ruling on the tariffs could unsettle U.S. stocks and bonds first, setting off a broader de-risking move that would also pressure crypto. In other words, the same court decision was being read in two very different ways: either as a liquidity release or as the start of wider market stress.
Jan. 14 is now the next date traders are watching
The Supreme Court is now expected to issue its ruling on Jan. 14. Prediction markets have already adjusted. On Polymarket, the odds of the tariffs being upheld rose from a 21% low on Jan. 7 to about 26% after the delay, reflecting a view among some traders that the court may be less certain than previously assumed.
Even so, the report said the dominant analyst view still expects the court to strike down the tariffs, which would hit a core part of the administration’s economic agenda. At the same time, officials have indicated that Trump could turn to other executive authorities, including Section 301 or Section 232, to keep the duties in place if needed.
Price action stays pinned to the same range
From a technical perspective, the $90,000-$92,000 band remains a high-volume magnet zone. It has acted as bitcoin’s main anchor for the past three days. Current market expectations, as cited in the report, are that BTC may remain in that corridor over the next five days, with any breakout before the Jan. 14 ruling likely to be treated as a fake-out rather than confirmation of a new trend.