BTC Slips to Yearly Low as Leverage Unwinds Below $85K

Bitcoin’s (BTC) strong start to the year has been fully erased, with its price slipping to a new yearly low below $84,000. Analysts viewed this move as part of a broader corrective phase rather than a structural market breakdown, driven by aggressive futures deleveraging rather than sustained selling in spot markets.

Key takeaways:

• BTC fell to $83,600 and trades in the lower limit of the 10-week consolidation range that has capped its price since Q4. 

• Bitcoin taker sell volume spiked to roughly $4.1 billion over just two hours, suggesting futures-driven flows rather than spot selling.

Futures liquidations send BTC to new lows

The latest drop keeps Bitcoin trapped inside a 10-week range that has defined price action since November 17, 2025, with weekly closes capped between $94,000 and $84,000. That structure is now being tested again as BTC trades near levels last seen in early December, raising the risk of a deeper move if buyers fail to defend current support.

Selling pressure intensified during the New York trading session, with Bitcoin sliding nearly 4.4% to $83,600 from $88,000. The move wiped $570 million in long positions, underscoring how leveraged the market was before the dip.

CryptoQuant data showed the pressure was concentrated and aggressive. Bitcoin taker sell volume surged to roughly $4.1 billion in two hours across all exchanges, pointing to forced selling rather than gradual spot distribution.

Onchain tracker Lookonchain highlighted the impact on a prominent trader, noting:

“The market just crashed, and #BitcoinOG (1011short) is taking heavy losses on his massive long positions. In just 2 weeks, he has lost $138M, with total profits dropping from $142M+ to just $3.86M.”

Related: Bitcoin rallies expected to be short-lived until liquidity returns: Data

Analysts see a corrective regime, not a structural breakdown

From a technical standpoint, BTC has already tested the $83,800 level, but the failure to sustain a rebound from that zone keeps downside risks in focus. The abrupt sell-off has led some analysts to project a deeper correction, with potential downside targets shifting toward the November low near $80,600.

Market analyst Crypto Zeno said the recent quarterly performance signals a shift in Bitcoin’s market structure. After a strong expansion phase in mid-2025, returns have been negative, down 26% since last July.

Derivatives metrics reinforce this view. On multiple occasions, 8% to 10% declines in futures open interest have coincided with clear local Bitcoin price lows, including the late-February to March 2025 dip near the mid-$80,000, the early-April 2025 cycle low around $78,000 to $80,000, and the mid-November 2025 bottom near $85,000 to $88,000.

These repeated alignments point to aggressive leverage unwinding, marking downside exhaustion rather than trend continuation.

Related: Single Bitcoin entity keeping BTC price ‘suppressed’ below $90K: Analysis