BTC open interest remains low, while trading sentiment is still fearful.
Whale orders have returned to BTC, but are currently protecting a price floor around $86,000 to $87,000. Above $90,000, price pressure is returning with a big sell wall.
BTC is still attracting whales, which may establish a price floor at $87,000. Despite this, the coin remains range-bound, with spot selling pressure appearing above the $90,000 level.
BTC traded at $88,842.62, recovering from a dip to the $85,000 range. For now, the leading coin finds buying support at the lower levels, as accumulation continues.
The orders are supporting relatively fearful trading, as the crypto fear and greed index dipped to 29 points, indicating fear.
BTC is still seeking direction amid weakening trading volumes, with interest shifting to the record-breaking precious metals and stocks.
BTC trading reverses to whale activity
After October’s downturn, most of the activity on major coins and tokens reversed to whales. BTC is now predominantly moved by whales, while accumulation is happening on mid-sized wallets.
Recent data shows a pickup in the exchange whale ratio, with more big players making deposits and withdrawals.
Whale orders remain relatively neutral at the moment, showing silent accumulation. Large-scale buying and withdrawals are happening more rarely. In January, big whale orders returned, although not at a scale seen during previous market rallies. The buying signals accumulation, rather than FOMO as BTC has lost its momentum.
For now, whale behavior shows no clear signs of bullishness or expecting a breakout. Binance reserves in stablecoins have decreased, while BTC deposits and reserves increased in the past weeks.
BTC retains low open interest
BTC derivative trading remains slow, with open interest still at $27B. Historically, it would take three to six months for open interest to recover. However, after months of regular liquidations and range-bound trading, derivative markets lost their confidence.
The current spot accumulation reflects some longer-term confidence, but the current positions are not indicating a bet on a bigger rally. Any recovery above $90,000 in the past weeks has led to another round of large-scale long liquidations.
Based on the liquidation heatmap, most of the leveraged positions are longing BTC at the $86,000 range. There is more limited liquidity available only up to $92,000, with a limited potential for a short squeeze.
Derivative markets also confirm the whale order range, with a potential price floor of $86,000. The recent price moves locked BTC into a lower price range, despite expectations for a rally at the start of 2026. In January to date, BTC only added a net 0.97%, with even more weakness observed for altcoins.
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