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Bitcoin Heads to $90K as Crypto Selloff Gathers Steam

Strong economic data and a slumping bond market have called into question the idea of any rate cuts this year.

By Stephen Alpher, Krisztian Sandor
Updated Jan 10, 2025, 10:54 a.m. Published Jan 9, 2025, 8:51 p.m.
Crypto prices continued to plunge on Thursday (Eva Blue/Unsplash)
Crypto prices continued to plunge on Thursday (Eva Blue/Unsplash)

What to know:

  • Bitcoin has returned to levels not seen in more than one month.
  • SOL and LINK were notable underperformers among altcoins.
  • The selling comes ahead of Friday morning's job report, which, if strong, might have markets eliminating the idea of any Fed rate cuts in 2025.

U.S. stock markets were closed on Thursday in remembrance of former President Jimmy Carter, but crypto is 24/7 and is bearing the entire brunt of any nervousness ahead of tomorrow's December employment report.

In late-afternoon action, the price of bitcoin (BTC) had returned to levels not seen in more than a month, barely holding on above $91,000 and down about 3% over the past 24 hours.

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The broader CoinDesk 20 Index is down similarly, but notable underperformers include solana (SOL) and chainlink (LINK), both off by double-digit percentage amounts.

The continued selloff in crypto comes following a major fourth quarter 2024 rally spurred by Donald Trump's November victory and the hope of a friendlier regulatory environment out of Washington D.C.

Another leg on the stool propping crypto was easier monetary policy, the U.S. Federal Reserve having cut its overnight interest rate by 100 basis points since September. That leg, though, has been cut out after a series of economic reports showed the economy and inflation has been far stronger than markets and the central bank expected. That in turn has sent yields on long-term interest rates higher by more than 100 basis points since the Fed began trimming short-term rates.

Today's selling is coming ahead of Friday morning's December jobs report. Another in the long string of strong economic data could have markets not just scrapping the idea of any rate cuts in 2025, but perhaps beginning to price in the need for rate hikes in coming months.

How low could bitcoin fall?

"BTC, ETH and SOL are now revisiting December 5 range lows and people are beginning to accept the fact that these levels may not hold," well-followed trader Eugene Ng Ah Sio said in an X post. "This is when most people start panicking."

He said the next support level for bitcoin is $85,000 if the $90,000 level falls.

Joe McCann, founder of venture capital fund Asymmetric, posted that BTC could target $75,000 in case the bitcoin doesn't hold the $90,000 line.

Prominent trader Skew said that the Thursday leg lower in prices could have been driven by headlines regarding additional Silk Road-related bitcoin sales. In a separate post analyzing Binance order book data, Skew said that bid liquidity ready to buy up bitcoin below current prices is robust, outweighing sellers.

"Something to note here is the lack of volatility behind price here, which is partly the sell flow not being sizable, and the amount of bid liquidity which outweighs current sell pressure," Skew said. "This doesn't look that bad."

CORRECTION (Jan. 10, 10:55 UTC): Corrects company name to Asymmetric.

Stephen Alpher

Stephen is CoinDesk's managing editor for Markets. He previously served as managing editor at Seeking Alpha. A native of suburban Washington, D.C., Stephen went to the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, majoring in finance. He holds BTC above CoinDesk’s disclosure threshold of $1,000.

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Stephen Alpher
Krisztian Sandor

Krisztian Sandor is a U.S. markets reporter focusing on stablecoins, tokenization, real-world assets. He graduated from New York University's business and economic reporting program before joining CoinDesk. He holds BTC, SOL and ETH.

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Krisztian Sandor
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