Bitcoin dropped back to around $84,000 during U.S. morning trading on Thursday, moving lower in tandem with stocks and precious metals at first. The difference came later. While equities, gold and silver recovered from their session lows, crypto stayed pinned near the bottom of the day’s range, with BTC, ETH, XRP and SOL all down 5% to 7% over the past 24 hours.
Joshua Lim, global co-head of markets at FalconX, linked the broad selloff to weak earnings, worries tied to Iran and concerns about a U.S. government shutdown. He said those pressures were forcing a wider unwind in hedge fund and commodity trading advisor positions across metals and equities, while crypto was also getting hit by the same risk-off mood.
Liquidations top $650 million as funding flips negative
The move lower wiped out more than $650 million in leveraged bullish crypto positions, according to CoinGlass. The report described it as the second most severe flush seen in the past month.
At the same time, perpetual swap funding rates have turned bearish across major tokens including ETH, SOL and XRP. Funding rates are a key gauge of positioning in perpetual futures. When they move below zero, short sellers pay longs to keep positions open, a sign that bearish bets have become dominant.
That matters because persistent negative funding has often appeared near short-term bottoms. If short positioning becomes too crowded, even a modest rebound can trigger a fast reversal as traders rush to cover.
ETF cost basis and on-chain valuation mark out the next levels
U.S. spot bitcoin ETF buyers are estimated to have an aggregate cost basis near $84,099, only slightly below the current price of $84,400. That places the market close to an important average entry point for a large pool of spot demand.
Another level in focus is the True Market Mean Price, a longer-term fair value measure derived from Investor Cap divided by Active Supply. That metric sits just above $80,000. The same area also lines up with the low seen in November 2025, giving the zone added weight as structural support and a possible mean-reversion level.
A break below $80,000 could expose the April 2025 range
If bitcoin falls decisively below $80,000, the next area mentioned in the report is the level seen in April 2025, when BTC briefly traded near $76,000 during the selloff tied to President Donald Trump’s tariff drive.
Monthly performance has also worsened. January is not over, but bitcoin is on pace for a fourth straight monthly decline. The article notes that even during the 2022 crypto winter, when BTC fell about 80%, it did not post four consecutive down months. To find a comparable streak of four lower monthly candles, the market would need to look back to 2019.