Bitcoin Lacks Strength for $80K Retest as Gold, Silver Edge Higher

Bitcoin (BTC) returned to range-bound moves on Tuesday as gold returned near the key $5,000 mark.

Key points:

• Bitcoin trades sideways as gold and silver attempt to reclaim prior losses.

• Analysis remains split over how the Bitcoin versus gold relationship will play out next.

• Bitwise CIO says that the latest “crypto winter” is closer to over.

$80,000 Bitcoin price stays out of reach

Data from TradingView showed BTC price action shying away from a retest of $80,000, now functioning as resistance.

BTC/USD displayed familiar indecisiveness on the day, again putting it in contrast to precious metals, which were actively attempting to recoup some of their major losses from recent days.

XAU/USD rebounded to $4,971, up more than $500 versus Monday’s local lows. 

Silver, which fell to near $71 after the January monthly candle close, traded up more than 11% on the day at the time of writing.

US stocks stayed sensitive to earnings reports, with PayPal’s miss sending its stock price down by almost 20%.

BREAKING: PayPal stock, $PYPL, extends its decline to -19% on the day after reporting weaker than expected Q4 2025 earnings, now down to its lowest level since April 2017. pic.twitter.com/NHehCmeRgP

— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) February 3, 2026

Assessing the state of play, BTC price outlooks hoped for the continuation of historical interaction with bullish gold phases.

“$BTC and $GOLD historically have taken turns to run, with Gold running the show for the past 14 months or so. It’s usually right around that time that the digital gold narrative takes over,” trader Jelle wrote in one of his latest X posts.

Others were far from convinced, including trader and analyst Northstar, who predicted that Bitcoin should lose 80% of its value in gold terms over time.

“Note, this was the first cycle where Bitcoin DID NOT make big new highs against gold. Worse may be to come due to capital rotation,” they told X followers.

Bitwise CIO: Crypto spring “closer than you think”

In an X article of his own on Tuesday, Matt Hougan, chief investment officer of crypto asset manager Bitwise, also put a time limit on the current “crypto winter.”

Related: Bitcoin ‘reflation’ bets diverge after US PMI breaks three-year resistance

“Here’s the good news: We’re closer than you think,” he summarized.

Hougan argued that the latest downtrend in fact started at the beginning of 2025, and it was the US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that made much of last year seem like a bull run.

“As a veteran of multiple crypto winters, I can tell you that the end of those crypto winters feel a lot like now: despair, desperation, and malaise. But there is nothing about the current market pullback that’s changed anything fundamental about crypto,” he concluded.

“I think we’re going to come roaring back sooner rather than later. Heck, it’s been winter since January 2025. Spring is surely coming soon.”