Bitcoin retreats from $94,000 as sell orders accumulate
Bitcoin dropped back to around $91,000 on Tuesday after briefly touching $94,000 the day before. The pullback wasn’t exactly surprising if you look at the order book data. There was nearly $100 million worth of sell orders stacked up across major exchanges in that $94,000 to $95,000 range. That’s a lot of selling pressure waiting to happen.
When Bitcoin approached that zone, all those sell orders acted like a ceiling. The rally just couldn’t push through. I think what happened next was pretty predictable—short-term traders started taking profits. The $91,000 level has been an entry point for a lot of new buyers who came into the market earlier this year. It makes sense they’d lock in some gains after the recent price movement.
Market structure drives the drop
Order book heatmaps showed sellers absorbing buy pressure as Bitcoin entered that resistance zone. Once the upward momentum stalled, leveraged traders began exiting their positions. That accelerated the drop toward $91,000. This seems more about market structure than any sudden shift in sentiment.
Most of the short-term downside liquidity has been taken out now. There might be one more move toward the $90,500 to $90,800 level before things reverse. But that’s just my reading of the situation.
Underlying demand remains strong
Despite the pullback, the broader trend still looks constructive. Data from CryptoQuant shows the Bitcoin-to-stablecoin reserve ratio on Binance has started rising again. That’s interesting because it signals growing buying power sitting on the sidelines.
A higher ratio means traders are holding stablecoins and waiting for better entry points. They’re more likely to deploy capital during pullbacks rather than chasing breakouts. This gradual buildup of liquidity often precedes consolidation phases. The price might fluctuate within a range before making another directional move.
Institutional demand continues
Institutional interest hasn’t faded either. Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded about $697 million in net inflows on January 5th. That pushes cumulative inflows close to $58 billion. What’s noteworthy is that these inflows continued even as Bitcoin struggled near resistance.
That suggests long-term positioning rather than speculative momentum driving demand. There’s a growing divide in the market right now. Long-term buyers keep accumulating, while short-term traders react to technical levels and liquidity clusters.
This dynamic explains why Bitcoin couldn’t sustain gains above $94,000 without triggering broader panic selling. There weren’t any signs of heavy exchange inflows or aggressive long-term holder distribution accompanying the drop.
For now, the data points toward consolidation rather than reversal. Clearing that $95,000 level will probably require sustained spot demand, thinner sell-side liquidity, and follow-through across risk markets. Until then, pullbacks toward the low $90,000 range seem consistent with a market digesting recent gains.
