Bitcoin price prediction: BTC gives back Asian gains as selling pressure builds

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Bitcoin retraces after Asian rally

Highlights

Bitcoin rejects $92,400 as European selling erases Asian gains and weakens bullish conviction momentum
Price holds above key EMAs as RSI rebounds, keeping the short-term bullish structure intact alive
Rising open interest and falling long-short ratio highlight growing tension between bulls and bears

The Asian rally builds on technical strength that emerged late last week when price found support at the 4-hour 100 EMA after retracing from year-to-date highs. That previous correction began on January 6 after Bitcoin surged by 8.4% in the first five days of 2026, rallying from $87,470 to a seven-week high near $94,800. The pullback erased just over 5%, bringing price down to $89,240 before stabilisation. Despite the setback, the support bounce suggests buyers are defending key moving averages.

Bitcoin price dynamics (Dec 2025 - Jan 2026). Source: TradingView

Currently, Bitcoin trades above the 20, 50, and 100 EMAs of the 4-hour and 1-hour charts. This alignment reaffirms short-term bullish control even as intraday selling gains traction. During the retracement phase, RSI dropped into bearish territory but has now rebounded to 60, reflecting mild bullish momentum returning as price holds above recent lows. This indicator shift adds weight to the argument that the broader trend still favours buyers despite short-term noise.

Positive funding persists even as short exposure increases across derivatives

Derivative metrics paint a mixed picture. Open interest has climbed since the Asian rally, showing that traders are opening fresh positions rather than closing shorts. Yet the long-to-short ratio has declined from 2.15 to 1.9, its lowest in five days. This shift implies shorts are building up faster than longs. In contrast, the funding rate has held positive for over three days, showing that long positions still outweigh shorts across major exchanges, although the margin is narrowing.

Together, these signals suggest a tightening battle between bulls and bears. The rising open interest alongside growing short bias reveals speculative tension. If price continues to hover below the early session high without reclaiming momentum, short sellers may feel emboldened to push lower. However, the dominance of longs and technical structure above key EMAs still offers room for upside continuation, if buyers step back in.

Break below EMAs at $91,000 risks deeper slide to $89,200

On the 1-hour chart, the 20, 50, and 100 EMAs have converged tightly around the $91,000 mark. A decisive break below this cluster would expose downside risk toward the $89,200 zone from last week. That would invalidate the current recovery structure and signal deeper weakness.

If buyers defend the $91,000 cluster and reclaim the $92,400 session high, further upside could open toward $94,000 and $94,800 resistance zones. The broader trend still favours bulls, but the rise in short exposure and intraday rejection suggests that momentum is fragile and vulnerable to sharp shifts.

In recent analysis, we discussed how Bitcoin slipped below the 50-day EMA after a 3% drop signaled short-term technical weakness. Short-term RSI turned bearish near $89,700, while rising long-short ratios and flat open interest showed weak capital commitment.

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