The price of Bitcoin has barely moved in the last twenty-four hours. BTC is trading steadily near $89,500, even as weekly losses continue to approach 6%. On the surface, this looks like a quiet consolidation. Beneath it, the charts indicate something else.
Several technical signals and indicators on the chain now point to a confrontation in the situation. Buyers are trying to delay a larger collapse, not push for a new high. The risk is quietly rising, and a less well-known adversary has started to have an impact.
Doji-like candles and EMA losses show that BTC buyers are defending while others are not advancing.
During the past three daily sessions, Bitcoin printed Doji-like candles with thin bodies and long wicks. These candles reflect hesitation, not balance. Sellers are pressing down, buyers are intervening late, and neither side has control.
This behavior occurs at the minimum of an ascending wedge. The ascending wedge tends to push upward but constricts price movement, often collapsing when support breaks.
If this structure fails, the measured bearish target points towards $77,300, which is a potential drop of 13% from current levels.
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Technical risk deepens when adding moving averages. 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, where 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 down the descent, not reversing it.
In summary, this is not a hesitation between bulls and bears. Buyers are trying to delay the larger downward transition.
Who is still buying, and why is this support weakening?
Long-term holders are still buying, but the pace of buying is slowing down.
Chain data shows that long-term holders, wallets holding Bitcoin for 155 days or more, remain net buyers. This group is tracked using the net holder position change metric, which measures the number of coins long-term investors are adding or removing over time.
Over the past two weeks, this metric has remained positive. This buying explains why Bitcoin hasn't collapsed yet.
But the strength has started to fade.
On January 19, long-term holders added about 22,618 Bitcoin (BTC). By January 23, the net daily purchase dropped to about 17,109 Bitcoin (BTC). This represents a decrease of approximately 24% in buying intensity over just four days.
Thus, while holders still support the price, they are doing so with less strength. This aligns with the Doji-like candles appearing on the chart. Support is present, but it is decreasing.
This slowdown will not be serious on its own. The problem is that a new source of pressure is rising at the same time.
Miners stand out as a less famous adversary behind the increasing risks.
The most appreciated turnaround now comes from Bitcoin miners.
The net miner position change tracks the 30-day change in supply held by miner wallets. When the value shifts to a larger negative, it indicates 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 Bitcoin (BTC). This represents more than an eightfold increase in sales pressure over two weeks.
The reason becomes clearer when considering network fees.
Bitcoin network fees have dropped sharply, according to BeInCrypto analysts. In May 2025, miners earned about 194 Bitcoin as monthly fees. By January 2026, this number gradually fell to about 59 Bitcoin. This represents an approximately 70% decline in fee income.
Lower fees pressure miners' margins. When revenues decline, miners are more likely to sell Bitcoin to cover operating costs, and this seems to be happening already. However, their selling power does not appear very strong yet.
Meanwhile, whale behavior has begun to soften. The number of whale samples gradually increased from January 9 to January 22, then began to retreat and slightly decline. This indicates early distribution, not aggressive dumping, but it increases the pressure created by miners.
The market now relies on price levels.
Bitcoin price levels determine whether the confrontation will break.
At the current price near $89,500, Bitcoin needs to close daily above $91,000, a move of about 1.79%, to regain the 20-day financial moving average. This would reduce immediate downward pressure and indicate that buyers are regaining control.
The risk is closer.
A daily close below $88,500, down about 1%, will bring Bitcoin back to the ascending wedge support. If that happens, the negative targets open up quickly.
Key Bitcoin price levels to watch include $84,300 first, followed by wedge targets near $77,300. If long-term holders' buying continues to slow while miners' selling persists, those levels become more significant.
