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The price of Bitcoin has barely moved in the last 24 hours. BTC is trading firmly near $89,500, even as weekly losses continue to approach 6%. On the surface, this seems like a quiet uniformity. Below, the graphs indicate something else.
Many technical signals and on the chain now point to a standoff in the situation. Buyers are trying to delay a bigger collapse, not push to a new high. The danger is quietly growing, and a lesser-known adversary begins to take its toll.
Candlesticks like Doji and EMA losses show that BTC buyers are defending others who are not ahead
During the last three sessions of each day, Printing of Bitcoin Doji-like candles with thin bodies and long wicks. These candles reflect indecision, not balance. Sellers are pressing, buyers are late, and neither side is in control.
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This behavior appears at the minimum of an increasing wedge. The rising wedge tilts upward, but tightens the price action, often breaking when support breaks.
If this structure fails, the measured breakout forecast points towards $77,300, a potential 13% decline from current levels.
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Technical risk deepens when moving averages are added. Bitcoin lost its 20-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) on January 20. The pure average is a trend indicator that gives more weight to recent prices, making it sensitive to short-term changes.
The last time Bitcoin clearly broke below the 20-day EMA was on December 12, when the price corrected by about 8%. This time, Bitcoin pulled back about 5% from the collapse before stabilizing. Doji-like candles indicate that buyers are slowing the decline rather than reversing it.
In short, this is not a hesitation between bulls and bears. Buyers are trying to delay the bigger move.
Who is still buying, and why is this support weakening?
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Long-term holders are still buying, but the pace of buying has slowed
On-chain data shows that long-term holders, wallets that hold bitcoin for 155 days or more, are still net buyers. This group is tracked using the net holder position change metric, which measures the number of coins that long-term investors add or remove over time.
In the last two weeks, this metric has been positive. This purchase explains why Bitcoin has not yet collapsed.
But the strength began to fade.
On January 19, long-term holders added about 22,618 Bitcoin (BTC). As of January 23rd, the daily net purchase had dropped to around 17,109 Bitcoin (BTC). This represents an almost 24% decrease in purchase intensity in just four days.
So, while the holders are still supporting the price, they do so with less force. This is in line with the doji-like candles that appear on the chart. The support is there, but it is decreasing.
This slowdown would not be dangerous in itself. The problem is that a new source of pressure is growing at the same time.
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Miners emerge as a lesser-known adversary behind the growing risks
The most popular suitable transformation now comes from Bitcoin miners.
The net miner position change tracks the 30-day change in the supply held by miners’ wallets. When the value turns more negative, it means that miners are selling more Bitcoin over time.
On January 9, miners reduced their holdings by about 335 Bitcoin (BTC). By January 23, this number had risen to about 2,826 bitcoins (BTC). This is a more than eight-fold increase in selling pressure in two weeks.
The reason becomes clearer when you take network fees into account.
decrease Monthly Bitcoin Network Fees Sharply, according to BeInCrypto analysts. In May 2025, miners received about 194 bitcoins as monthly fees. From January 2026, this number gradually decreased to about 59 BTC. This represents a reduction of approximately 70% in fee income.
Lower fees squeeze workers’ margins. When revenues decrease, Miners are more likely to sell Bitcoin To cover operational costs, this seems to have already happened. But its selling power does not seem very strong yet.
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Meanwhile, the behavior of the whales began to unravel. The number of sampled whales increased steadily from January 9th to January 22nd, then began to decrease and decrease slightly. This indicates an initial distribution, not an aggressive dump, but increases the pressure created by the miners.
The market now depends on the price levels.
Bitcoin price levels will determine if the standoff will break
At the current price close to $89,500, Bitcoin needs to close every day Above $91,000, a move of about 1.79%, to claim the 20-day MA. This will reduce immediate pressure and indicate that buyers are taking back control.
The danger is closer.
A daily close below $88,500, down about 1%, will return Bitcoin to rising wedge support. If this happens, the negative targets will quickly open.
Key Bitcoin price levels to watch include $84,300 first, followed by a wedge forecast near $77,300. If long-term holder buying continues to slow as miners continue to sell, those levels become more important.
