In Brief:
- Bitcoin falls below $90,000 as Trump’s Greenland tariffs and geopolitical tensions trigger global risk-off flows.
- Ether and Solana see sharper declines, highlighting the pressure on smaller, less liquid cryptocurrencies.
- Institutional demand persists, with Michael Saylor’s Strategy and US-listed Bitcoin ETFs continuing significant purchases.
Bitcoin (BTC-USD) slid to its lowest level in more than a week as a sharp selloff swept through global financial markets, with investors continuing to cut risk amid rising geopolitical tensions.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency fell below $90,000, moving in step with declines across equities, long-dated US Treasuries and Japanese government bonds as volatility rippled through markets.
After dropping as much as 4% on Tuesday, Bitcoin extended losses into Wednesday morning in Asia before recovering some ground. By 10:10 GMT, it was trading at $89,229.29. The $90,000 level has acted as a key support area since early January and is shaping up as an important short-term inflection point.
Markets were rattled after US President Donald Trump escalated his rhetoric on Greenland, vowing to take control of the territory and threatening tariffs on European nations.
Gold and silver surged, the US dollar weakened, and capital rotated toward perceived safety as investors responded to aggressive US trade and foreign policy posturing.
Uncertainty intensified further after Trump targeted France directly, warning he could impose 200% tariffs on French wine and champagne over Paris’s refusal to join his “Board of Peace” initiative for Gaza reconstruction. Trump is due to speak at the World Economic Forum in Davos later today, where he is also expected to meet European leaders.
Despite the turmoil, signs of demand for Bitcoin exposure remain, with Michael Saylor’s Strategy revealing it had bought nearly $2.13 billion worth of Bitcoin over the past eight days, its largest purchase since July. The move points to continued institutional and retail appetite through equity-linked vehicles, even as spot prices weaken.
Flows into US-listed Bitcoin ETFs have also remained supportive, with around $1.2 billion invested so far this year following last year’s sharp market pullback.
By early Wednesday, crypto prices showed some signs of stabilising, with the pause coming as pressure in global bond markets eased. Japanese government bonds rebounded after officials urged calm, and US equity futures edged higher, hinting at a brief break from the panic that gripped markets yesterday.
For now, the bounce looks more like a pause than a clear return to risk-taking. Technical signals have taken a back seat, with traders focused squarely on geopolitical risk, tariffs and bond market stress rather than conventional indicators.