Bitcoin Dumps to 2-Month Low as Geopolitical Tension Rises and Fed Pauses Rate Cuts: Weekly Crypto Recap

January is set to close with yet another highly eventful and volatile trading week, which, unfortunately for the bulls, drove BTC and many altcoins south to new local lows.

Let’s rewind the clocks a week. Bitcoin tried to take down the $90,000 and even the $91,000 resistance levels last Friday to no avail, though. It spent the following weekend trading sideways around $89,000. However, it almost felt inevitable that it’s about to crumble in the next few days as US President Donald Trump issued a new tariff threat, this time to Canada, for 100% taxation.

Needless to say, BTC indeed tanked on Sunday evening and Monday morning, dropping to a five-week low at the time of $86,000. However, the bulls were quick to pick up the pace and helped BTC recover over four grand in the following days. Consequently, the cryptocurrency exceeded $90,000 on Wednesday.

The US Federal Reserve pivoted on its most recent monetary policy and paused the interest rate cuts on Wednesday evening. The event had no immediate effect on bitcoin, but that changed when geopolitical tensions spiked again, involving the US and its president, as expected. This time, the POTUS threatened Iran with potential strikes as the US moved several carriers closer to the Middle Eastern country.

Perhaps reacting to both developments, BTC began to decline on Thursday evening. It slumped below $86,000 at first, but that was just the start. The bears kept the pressure on, and the cryptocurrency found itself dumping to $81,000 earlier today for the first time in over two months.

Although it has rebounded to nearly $83,000 since then, it’s still over 7% down weekly. Similar losses are evident from ETH, XRP, SOL, DOGE, ADA, and BCH. In contrast, HYPE and CC have marked massive double-digit gains.

Market Data

Market Cap: $2.9T | 24H Vol: $214B | BTC Dominance: 57%

BTC: $82,700 (-7.2%) | ETH: $2,730 (-6.2%) | XRP: $1.76 (-7.3%)

This Week’s Crypto Headlines You Can’t Miss

Fidelity Chooses Ethereum For its New FIDD Stablecoin. One of the world’s largest asset managers and long-term crypto supporter – Fidelity Investments – is reportedly launching a new stablecoin called the Fidelity Digital Dollar (FIDD) on the Ethereum blockchain. The new asset will be pegged 1:1 with the greenback and backed by reserves.

SEC Sets Clear Rules for Tokenized Securities, Splitting Them Into Two Key Categories. While the CLARITY Act remains unresolved in the US, the Securities and Exchange Commission has released new guidance to clarify how federal securities laws apply to tokenized securities. It splits such assets into two main types: issuer-sponsored and third-party-sponsored.

Bitcoin Hashrate Plunges as Texas Miners Forced Offline by Ice Storm. The Bitcoin hashrate metric, often described as the backbone of the largest blockchain, dropped significantly once again following massive ice storms in some US states, forcing miners to shut down their rigs. The metric has declined from 1.133 ZH/s to 690 EH/s in days.

Crypto Traders Pile Into Silver FOMO Before 15% Crash. While BTC was struggling, silver and gold were charting fresh peaks lately. However, these otherwise more stable assets were also hit by enhanced volatility in the past week, and some reports claimed that certain crypto traders had joined the silver bandwagon before one of the double-digit crashes.

‘Bitcoin Isn’t in a Bull Market:’ Expert Warns $80K Wasn’t the Bottom. Even before the Thursday calamity and a price drop to $81,000, some market analysts indicated that BTC’s bull phase had ended, and it hasn’t bottomed out yet.

Crypto Funds Just Bled $1.73B – The Biggest Exit Since November 2025. CoinShares’ weekly digital asset fund report showed that investors withdrew over $1.7 billion from crypto-focused product vehicles in the previous week, the highest level since November.

Charts

This week, we have a chart analysis of Ethereum, Ripple, Cardano, Binance Coin, and Hyperliquid – click here for the complete price analysis.

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