Bitcoin Remains Below $91,000 While Gold Reaches New All-Time Highs

Subdued Sentiment Despite Positive Economic Data

Bitcoin has been trading below the $91,000 mark since Tuesday, despite stock markets gaining ground following strong U.S. economic data ^[1]. The annualized funding rate for Bitcoin perpetual futures stood at 7 percent on Thursday, slightly below the typical neutral range of 6 to 12 percent ^[1]. This signals that demand for leveraged long positions remains subdued.

The lack of euphoria among traders is partly related to robust U.S. economic growth of 4.4 percent in the third quarter ^[1]. Continuing unemployment claims fell by 26,000 to 1.85 million for the week ending January 10 ^[1]. Despite the subdued sentiment, there is no significant increase in demand for hedging strategies via BTC options ^[1].

Professional Traders Continue to Accumulate

Analysis of options data suggests a phase of accumulation. The two most active BTC options strategies on Wednesday and Thursday were the long straddle and the long iron condor ^[1]. Both strategies prioritize volatility over directional bets, suggesting that institutional players expect a phase of price accumulation rather than a deeper correction from the current level of $89,500 ^[1].

Top traders at Binance increased their bullish engagement on Thursday, with the long-to-short ratio rising from 2.08 to 2.18 ^[1]. The top 20 percent of users by margin volume at OKX also built up their long positions, even though Bitcoin failed to reclaim the $90,000 mark ^[1].

Strategy Continues Buying Strategy

Michael Saylor hinted on platform X that Strategy may be preparing another major Bitcoin acquisition ^[2]. His comments came just days after the company announced its largest Bitcoin purchase since July 2025 ^[2]. The company acquired 22,305 BTC for $2.13 billion at an average price of $95,284 per coin, bringing its total holdings to 709,715 BTC ^[2].

Strategy is now the first company to hold more than 700,000 BTC—approximately 1.1 times the amount held by all governments combined ^[2]. Polymarket data shows a 63 percent probability that Strategy will hold at least 740,000 BTC by February 28 ^[2].

Gold Shines, Bitcoin Stagnates

Gold prices reached a new all-time high on Thursday, while 10-year U.S. Treasury yields hit 20-week highs ^[1]. This divergence typically signals waning confidence in U.S. fiscal policy ^[1]. The 10-year yield reached 4.25 percent on Thursday, compared to 4.14 percent the previous week ^[1].

At the time of writing, gold is trading at $4,958, just shy of the $5,000 threshold ^[4]. Bitcoin, meanwhile, remains at $89,634 ^[4]. Jim Bianco of Bianco Research commented on X: "Over the past 14 months, everyone else has made money, especially those who invested in precious metals. The crypto industry, meanwhile, came up empty" ^[4].

ETF expert Eric Balchunas of Bloomberg put it in perspective: "BTC is up 300 percent over the past 20 months, now it's taking a break. What do you want? 200 percent annually without interruption?" ^[4]

Institutional Outflows Weigh Heavy

Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded net outflows of $1.58 billion over the past two days ^[1]. A recovery toward $95,000 depends significantly on institutional inflows, which have been absent so far ^[1].

Bestselling author Robert Kiyosaki, meanwhile, appeared unfazed by short-term price fluctuations. On X, he posted: "Question: Do I care if the price of gold, silver, or Bitcoin goes up or down? Answer: No. I don't care" ^[3]. He continues to buy gold, silver, Bitcoin, and Ethereum, knowing that the purchasing power of the U.S. dollar can only fall ^[3].