Bitcoin fell toward $90,000 on Thursday as crypto markets pared much of Tuesday’s rally, with broad risk appetite dampening despite the Federal Reserve delivering a widely expected rate cut and restarting Treasury purchases.
Major tokens extended weekly losses and more than $514 million in leveraged positions were wiped out over the last day as volatility increased across derivatives.
BTC was trading around $90,250, down 2.4% over 24 hours. Ether fell 3.4% to $3,208, while Solana fell 5.8% and fell 5.5 per cent Seven-day returns remained negative for almost all large-cap tokens, as XRP is down 8.6%, ADA 7.2% and BNB 5.9%, according to CoinGecko data.
The pullback follows Tuesday’s brief rally above $94,500, a move that sparked a minor short squeeze but failed to break the resistance that has capped bitcoin for most of the past three weeks. The rejection sent BTC back to the middle of its month-long range, where market depth remains thin and liquidation clusters continue to impact price volatility.
“Strictly speaking, we have observed a series of higher local highs and lows since November 21st,” Alex Kuptsikevich, senior market analyst at FxPro, told CoinDesk in an email.
“However, to definitively classify the recovery as the start of capitalization growth, it must exceed $3.32 trillion,” about 6% above current levels. The global crypto market cap is close to $3.16 trillion, up 2.5% from earlier this week, but still below Tuesday’s local high of $3.21 trillion.
Leverage was a major factor in Thursday’s decline. Data from CoinGlass shows that $376 million in long positions were forced out over the course of 24 hours — nearly triple the $138 million in short liquidations — as BTC slipped back below its short-term trend line.
Macro conditions offered little support. Although the Fed delivered another rate cut on Wednesday, policymakers expected fewer reductions over the next two years, revealing a sharp division in the committee.
Elsewhere, QCP Capital earlier this week told clients to expect wider bitcoin trading bands between $84,000 and $100,000 by year-end, citing a mix of reduced liquidity and persistent positioning imbalances.
Bloomberg Intelligence Strategist Mike McGlone similarly warned that a “Santa Claus rally” may not materialize, predicting that BTC could end the year below $84,000.
For now, traders are watching to see if BTC can maintain a foothold near the $90,000-$91,000 area – a support region that has been tested repeatedly over the past month.
A decisive break would expose the lower end of the current range, while stabilization could set the stage for another attempt at $94,000 resistance as markets recalibrate post-Fed.
