MarketsBitcoin
|7 min ReadBitcoin Bounces To $93K As Bulls Turn Their Eyes Back To $100K
Lucca Menezes
Senior Analyst
Published
Jan 16, 2026
Alpha Briefing: Bitcoin has rebounded from a Sunday leverage flush that briefly dragged price to around $84,500, reclaiming the $93,000 area and erasing an $8,000 intraday drawdown. Analysts now frame $86,000–$88,000 as the key line that must hold, with a clean break above the current resistance band near $92,000–$93,000 opening a credible path toward the long-discussed $100,000 milestone in the coming months. Macro expectations around Federal Reserve rate cuts and renewed spot ETF inflows are again moving to the center of the Bitcoin narrative.
Bitcoin has shaken off a brutal weekend liquidation and is back trading above $93,000, restoring confidence that the top of this cycle may not be in yet. After a violent move that knocked about $8,000 from the price in a single flush, the market has quickly reclaimed lost ground and returned to a familiar battle zone just below all-time highs.
On Coinbase, Bitcoin touched a 24-hour high around $93,040 according to BTCUSD data on TradingView. At the time of writing it is changing hands just above $92,700, roughly 7% higher than a day ago, and back above the levels that cracked during the Sunday wipeout.
The message to traders is simple. The first attempt to break this market has failed, but the real test is still ahead.
A Classic Late-Cycle Leverage Flush
The latest move follows a sharp slide to roughly $84,500 over the weekend, triggered by a cascade of liquidations as crowded longs were forced out. Analysts quickly labeled the move a “leverage flush,” the kind of cleansing event that often appears late in a cycle when positioning gets too one-sided.
MN Fund founder Michaël van de Poppe described the recovery as exactly the kind of behavior bulls want to see, with Bitcoin snapping back toward the prior range soon after the spike lower. He highlighted the area around $92,000 as a crucial barrier, arguing that a firm break and hold above this region would likely put a fresh all-time high and a first real attempt at $100,000 on the table. As he said, the market needs to prove that the drop was a shakeout, not the start of a larger trend reversal.
Under the surface, technical gauges also tell a story of stress. Van de Poppe compared the intensity of this drawdown with earlier shocks involving exchange failures and macro panics, arguing that many indicators swung harder to the downside this time than during those infamous episodes. In other words, the crash looked worse on the dashboard than on the chart, which is exactly how a brutal but short-lived flush behaves.
On the downside, on-chain and flow-based analysis has converged on a narrow band around $86,000 to $88,000 as the trench that matters. CryptoQuant contributor “Crazzyblockk” noted in a recent post that this range has acted as a floor through dozens of tests in recent months. Staying above it tends to signal that active traders are still sitting on healthy unrealized profits and have little incentive to dump into weakness.
If that shelf holds, this weekend’s action will be written off as part of a consolidation phase. If it fails convincingly, the narrative flips. A break under that long-defended zone would suggest large, sophisticated players have transitioned from quietly accumulating to using strength to distribute, which would open the door to a more serious correction.
Macro Tailwinds And ETF Flows Back In Play
The technical picture is only part of the story. This rebound is happening against a backdrop that many see as structurally friendly to Bitcoin.
Nick Ruck, director at LVRG Research, expressed confidence that the asset can reclaim six figures in the coming months. He argued that Bitcoin’s resilience in late-2025 is being reinforced by two powerful forces: expectations of renewed Federal Reserve rate cuts and the continued normalization of spot Bitcoin ETFs as mainstream investment vehicles.
In practical terms, easier monetary policy tends to weaken interest in cash and low-yielding bonds and push investors back out the risk curve. Bitcoin is now firmly embedded in that risk basket. At the same time, BTC ETFs provide a clean channel for that capital to flow into the asset without traders touching crypto exchanges at all. Ruck suggested that as policy expectations and ETF demand move in the same direction, it builds a “tremendous” backdrop for retesting the psychological $100,000 line.
Another camp is more cautious but still constructive. Some technical analysts looking at volatility tools such as Bollinger Bands have argued that the structural floor of this cycle may sit above $55,000, even in a deeper corrective phase. That view leaves a wide range between here and the final low, but it reinforces the idea that the weekend flush was painful noise, not the end of the party.
For traders in regions like Brazil and the Middle East, the macro mix matters twice. Bitcoin is simultaneously a global risk asset and, in some local contexts, a hedge against political or currency uncertainty. Rate cuts, dollar moves, and regional inflation all shape how attractive it looks relative to domestic assets, especially for high-net-worth investors who can access both ETFs and spot markets.
Trader Playbook: Watching The Range And The Clock
The current setup is clean enough that even short-term traders are working off the same map as long-term allocators.
On the top side, the range just below all-time highs is stiff resistance. The $92,000 to $93,000 band is where the market has repeatedly stalled. A decisive break and daily close above that area, with follow-through buying rather than another quick rejection, would strengthen the case for a swift push into uncharted territory and a first real test of $100,000.
On the bottom side, the $86,000 to $88,000 region is the battlefield. As long as that floor holds on retests, dips will look like opportunities to add exposure rather than signals to exit. If that level cracks on heavy volume, especially after failing to hold following a bounce, traders will need to respect the risk of a deeper unwind.
Time matters too. Liquidity often thins out as the year draws to a close, which can exaggerate both rallies and selloffs. Weekend trading has already shown how quickly a one-sided positioning can turn into an ugly flush when order books are not deep. That cuts both ways. It means breakouts can run farther than expected, but it also means risk management and position sizing are more important than ever.
The BitNews take: this is not yet the clean breakout that confirms the top of the cycle is in. It looks more like a stress test of conviction. If Bitcoin can hold its long-defended support zone and finally chew through resistance near $93,000, the market will have earned the right to talk seriously about a three-figure handle. Until then, traders are playing an old game in a new range.
Disclaimer: This document is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. The views expressed in this document are not, and should not be taken as, investment advice or recommendations. Recipients should do their own due diligence, taking into account their specific financial circumstances, investment objectives and risk tolerance, which are not considered here, before investing. This document is not an offer, or the solicitation of an offer, to buy or sell any of the assets mentioned.