Bitcoin holds near $88,000 as gold and silver rallies show signs of fatigue

Bitcoin traded sideways near the $88,000 level on Monday, even as gold and silver surged to fresh record highs before showing signs of fatigue.

BTC was modestly higher from a familiar bout of weekend selling but remained below the roughly $90,000 level seen late Friday. Analysts pointed to rising concerns over a potential U.S. government shutdown on Jan. 31 and the resulting squeeze on market liquidity as key drivers behind Sunday’s selloff.

That same uncertainty did little to slow demand for precious metals. Gold broke through $5,000 and briefly topped $5,100 for the first time, while silver rallied as high as $118. Momentum, however, appeared to fade as the session progressed. Gold pulled back to around $5,043, still up 1.3% on the day, while silver retreated to $108, retaining gains of about 7%.

“Gold and silver casually adding an entire bitcoin market cap in a single day,” wrote prominent crypto analyst Will Clemente, capturing the frustration among bitcoin traders as BTC failed to respond to the broader macro move.

The U.S. dollar added to the macro backdrop, with the dollar index (DXY) sliding to its weakest level since September. The move followed reports of coordinated intervention by the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan aimed at supporting the yen. The dollar fell more than 1% to 154.07 per yen.

Bitcoin outlook remains cautious

Bitcoin’s inability to rally despite dollar weakness has left traders cautious in the near term. Analysts at Swissblock said recent price action has reinforced a bearish bias, warning that a decisive break below the $84,500 support level could trigger a deeper pullback toward $74,000. Still, they noted that if support holds as risk indicators cool, it could present an attractive entry point for bulls.

Bitfinex analysts struck a similarly restrained tone, forecasting that BTC is likely to remain range-bound between $85,000 and $94,500. They highlighted options market activity suggesting traders are hedging short-term risks without pricing in a major rise in longer-term volatility.

In their view, markets are “pricing transitory risk rather than a sustained disruption to market structure.”

ETF outflows and legislative uncertainty

Pressure on bitcoin has also been compounded by ongoing selling in spot bitcoin ETFs, which recorded more than $1.3 billion in net outflows over the past week, signaling weak risk appetite among investors.

Jim Ferraioli, director of crypto research and strategy at Schwab, said bitcoin is unlikely to break meaningfully higher without improvements in key indicators such as on-chain activity, ETF flows, derivatives positioning and miner participation.

A more substantial catalyst, he added, would be progress on the Clarity Act, but that effort could be delayed by the looming risk of a government shutdown. Until there is regulatory clarity, Ferraioli expects bitcoin to continue trading in a relatively tight range, roughly between the low $80,000s and the mid-$90,000s, as large institutional players remain on the sidelines.