Why is Bitcoin price down today?

Bitcoin’s price has dropped by over 6.5% from its new all-time high above $109,000, leading declines across the crypto market.

This comes after US President Trump did not mention Bitcoin or cryptocurrency in his inauguration speech and to issue crypto-related executive orders on his first day in office.

Let’s look closely at the factors driving Bitcoin price down today.

BTC price drops after Trump omits Bitcoin

Bitcoin, which recently set a fresh all-time high of $109,020 on Jan. 20, was trading around $101,948 at the time of publication. The BTC/USD pair is down by over 6% over the last 24 hours. 

BTC price began sliding as US President Donald Trump delivered his inauguration speech on Jan. 21. Trump didn’t mention Bitcoin in his 30-minute speech as had been widely expected by the crypto community.

Neither did he mention digital assets, a strategic Bitcoin reserve, or the repealing of the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) controversial rule “SAB 121,” as the crypto community had hoped for.

Additionally, President Trump did not issue any crypto-related executive orders among the ones he signed after his inauguration ceremony. Rumors had emerged that Trump would issue a “day one” executive order regarding the establishment of a US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.

The omission of crypto-related actions disappointed traders as they entered a risk-off mode, pulling the BTC price down.

“People have flipped bearish after screaming how bullish they were yesterday, simply because the 47th president didn’t say ‘crypto’ in his inauguration speeches,” said crypto investor Jakey in a Jan. 21 post on X.

Leveraged liquidations drive BTC price lower

The bearish performance displayed by BTC over the last 24 hours has been marked by significant liquidations in the derivatives market. Traders faced greater volatility, resulting in total Bitcoin liquidations of approximately $259 million over the last 24 hours, according to CoinGlass data. 

Over $354 million leveraged Bitcoin positions were liquidated on Jan. 20 alone, with $214 longs. 

A similar spurt in long-position liquidations happened on Dec. 5 when the price of Bitcoin dropped from a high of $103,647 to a local low of $92,092. 

The latest predominance of long liquidations suggested that the crypto market was overleveraged on the bullish side as BTC sold off on the inauguration “news.”

Bitcoin’s bearish divergence spotted

Bitcoin’s drop today precedes a period of growing bearish divergence between its price and the relative strength index (RSI).

The daily chart below shows that the BTC/USD pair rose between Nov. 12 and Jan. 9, forming higher lows. But, in the same period, its daily RSI descended from 84 to 42, forming lower lows, as shown in the daily chart below.

As a rule of technical analysis, a divergence between rising prices and a falling RSI indicates weakness in the prevailing uptrend, prompting some traders to sell at local highs.

The chart above also reveals an area of stiff resistance on the upside, stifling BTC’s efforts to rise higher. These are areas defined by the $104,300-$105,750 supplier congestion zone. Bulls are required to overcome this barrier to continue the uptrend.

Professional trader HTL-NL believes the recent failure by bulls to hold the price above $105,000 saw BTC pull back into the range it had been trapped in since mid-November. 

The trader’s bearish scenario has Bitcoin following a classic price action pattern that, if it plays out, would see Bitcoin price eventually drop to the lower level of the range at $90,000.

“For now, this is and still is the same long-term view. Nothing has changed.”

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.