BTC Dragged by Liquidations, Crypto Sentiment Grows Cautious
Bitcoin continued to move sluggishly at the start of the week, lingering near a one-month low following last week's risk-off pressure and a wave of liquidations in the leveraged crypto market.
On Monday, January 26, 2026, BTC traded around $88,265 (a slight decrease of around 0.36% from its previous close).
The pressure stemmed from increasingly cautious investors ahead of the FOMC meeting on January 27–28, 2026. The broader market projected interest rates to be on hold, but the primary focus was on the tone of Jerome Powell's statement—whether he signaled when cuts could begin and how aggressively.
Last week's weakness was also exacerbated by forced selling in derivatives. Market data showed that over $1 billion in leveraged crypto positions were liquidated during the heightened volatility—the largest portion coming from long Bitcoin positions.
Meanwhile, politics added to the mix. Investors are also awaiting signals from President Donald Trump regarding the next Fed chair, as the chosen figure has the potential to shape expectations for future policy direction (although this remains dependent on consensus within the Fed).
Altcoins also tended to be mixed:
ETH at $2,913.78 (down about 0.51%)
XRP at $1.93 (up about 2.12%)
SOL at $123.94 (down about 1.66%)
ADA at $0.3546 (up about 0.49%)
Polygon (POL, ex-MATIC) at $0.1226 (up about 0.57%)
DOGE at $0.12294 (up about 0.43%)
Source: Newsmaker.id
