Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) are stalling near $89,000 and $2,900 as institutional capital continues to exit the market. Both assets remain capped by key resistance levels, with price stability masking a broader shift toward risk reduction.

Between January 19 and 23, roughly $1.8 billion flowed out of U.S. crypto ETFs, the largest weekly outflow since late 2025. At the same time, on-chain data shows rising exchange inflows, increasing realized losses, and falling derivatives leverage, pointing to a market moving decisively from profit-taking into active de-risking.

A market stabilizing, not recovering

Bitcoin’s slide toward $89,782 reflects sustained selling pressure. Repeated failures in the $90,000–$93,000 range confirm that demand has not been strong enough to reclaim higher ground.

From its October 2025 all-time high (ATH) of approximately $125,000, BTC has seen a significant drop of 30%. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is currently sitting at 46.56, indicating a neutral-to-bearish momentum that lacks the “oversold” signal needed for a sharp reversal.

On the other hand, Ethereum is hovering near $3,000, but failing to reclaim the $3,300 area that would signal real momentum returning.

Ethereum is down about 42% from its ATH near $4,800. Its Relative Strength Index (RSI) of 46.34 confirms a similar lack of buying pressure at these local resistance zones.

Both assets are now sitting in a “dead zone” where buyers are present, but not aggressive, and sellers don’t need to do much to keep the lid on.

Technically, momentum has cooled. The RSIs of BTC and ETH read neutral-to-soft rather than “washed out.” Markets typically need either fresh demand or true exhaustion selling to reverse cleanly. Right now, neither is obvious.

The ceiling is technical, and the pressure is flow

The $1.8 billion weekly outflow from U.S. ETFs suggests institutions aren’t simply trimming profits. They are reducing risk exposure into strength and using liquidity windows to exit.

That’s a classic “loss-realization” phase: prices can stop falling fast, but money is still walking out the door.

Despite the recent weekly crash, 2026 started on a high note for Ethereum, which reached $11 billion in YTD inflows by mid-January, outperforming Bitcoin on a proportional basis relative to assets under management.

Stabilization after tough Q4, but momentum still lags

Bitcoin has started 2026 on a steadier footing after a brutal end to last year. Following sharp losses in November and December, BTC is up about 2% in January, signaling stabilization rather than a rebound.

While Bitcoin remains roughly 30% below its late-2025 peak near $128,000, year-to-date inflows of around $678 million suggest institutional support is still stronger than in prior bear markets.

Ethereum is seeing a similar, weaker recovery. After a 28% drop in Q4 2025, ETH is up just 0.9% in January, with choppy price action and about $630 million in recent weekly outflows. The market continues to struggle to reclaim the $3,000 level.

Despite being roughly 42% off its highs, Ethereum pulled in about $12.6 billion of inflows over 2025, pointing to lingering institutional interest, just not enough yet to drive a sustained breakout.

ETF flows turn risk-off in January

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs reversed sharply in January, posting about $1.33 billion in net outflows for the week ending January 23, the worst since early 2025 and a sharp flip from the prior week’s inflows. The sell-off peaked on January 21 with a $709 million single-day redemption, signaling broad institutional de-risking.

BlackRock’s IBIT showed late-month resilience with a $15.9 million inflow on January 26 and still leads with $63.4 billion in cumulative inflows. Meanwhile, Fidelity’s FBTC and Grayscale’s GBTC saw the heaviest exits, highlighting how ETF demand remains fragile as Bitcoin trades below key resistance.

Ethereum spot ETFs followed Bitcoin into risk-off mode, logging $611 million in net outflows for the week of January 19–23. The pullback erased much of January’s early gains after a $229.9 million single-day redemption on January 20, underscoring choppy institutional positioning around current price levels.

BlackRock’s ETHA led withdrawals with $432 million exiting over the week, though it still holds $12.4 billion in cumulative inflows. Fidelity’s FETH and Grayscale’s ETHE also saw steady redemptions, while Grayscale’s mini ETH product was a rare bright spot. Despite the volatility, total ETH ETF AUM sits near $18.1 billion, suggesting long-term institutional interest remains intact even as short-term risk is trimmed.

What would change the setup

Bitcoin and Ethereum are no longer just consolidating; they are being stress-tested. With BTC pinned near $89,000 and ETH struggling around $2,900, both assets remain trapped beneath heavy resistance as institutional flows turn decisively defensive.

The $1.8 billion pulled from U.S. crypto ETFs in a single week signals a shift from passive profit-taking to active risk reduction, marking a broader loss-realization phase. Until flows stabilize and these core ceilings are reclaimed, rallies are likely to fade quickly, leaving the market in a fragile balance between consolidation and deeper downside.

Also read: Ethereum Stakers Wait 61 Days for 2.8% Yield: Why Demand Is Rising

The 1inch Network token (1INCH) dropped nearly 20% this week after on-chain data showed an investor’s wallet liquidating its remaining vested tokens in a single $14M transaction. The sale hit thin liquidity on Ethereum markets, sparking panic selling that erased close to $40 million in market value.

The move came despite a public statement from 1inch denying that any tokens were sold by the team, treasury, or wallets under its control.

Vesting wallet exit, not random volatility

Blockchain data shows the selling address had previously received around 15 million 1INCH tokens through early team or investor vesting. Over time, portions of that allocation had already been distributed. This week’s transaction marked a full exit of the remaining balance.

While the wallet is not controlled by the 1inch team, its history ties it directly to early allocations, making the sell-off look less like market noise and more like a delayed vesting unwind finally hitting thin liquidity. 

Thin liquidity meant one large exit quickly snowballed into fear-driven selling, pushing the price down far more than the initial sale alone would suggest.

1inch denies team involvement

In response to speculation, 1inch stated that the sell-off did not come from team wallets, treasury multisigs, or any entities it controls. The project stressed that third-party holders trade independently and are outside its reach.

Statement

With respect to yesterday’s activity, no 1INCH was sold from wallets controlled by 1inch entities or our team, or our treasury multisigs. We do not control third-party holdings or their trading decisions.

Our mission and vision remain unchanged. It is that focus which…

— 1inch (@1inch) January 28, 2026

The team also said nothing has changed internally. The roadmap is intact, operations are ongoing, and the team plans to revisit parts of its tokenomics later this year to make the system more resilient when liquidity thins out.

Market reaction overshadows fundamentals

At the time of writing, 1INCH was hovering around $0.116, down around 20% from recent highs, even though nothing broke. The decline occurred without any exploit, outage, or partnership fallout.

Throughout 2025, 1INCH steadily slid, ending the year down nearly 64%. The decline reflected ongoing vesting pressure and fading demand for DeFi governance tokens, with the latest sell-off accelerating an already established trend.

The weakness in price has persisted even as 1inch continued shipping new integrations. In mid-2025, the protocol added support for Uniswap’s Unichain, expanding swap routing and MEV protection and extending its developer tooling.

While 1inch framed the incident as unrelated to internal activity, the on-chain evidence tells a narrower story. In this case, the sell-off was driven by an early investor having a large amount of tokens vested in the project, which raised concerns for the community and traders.

Also read: 4.5 Million Users, Zero Price Growth: What’s Wrong With Tron?