Bitcoin Closes $88,000 CME Gap as it Wipes 2026 Gains

Bitcoin (BTC) looked for cues near $90,000 on Wednesday as BTC price action hit a key target for a rebound.

Key points:

• Bitcoin price action drops to fill a CME futures gap created at the yearly open.

• A modest bounce is not enough to convince traders that the worst is over.

• Gold continues to hit record highs while Bitcoin gives up January gains.

BTC price “not looking strong” after gap-fill

Data from TradingView showed Bitcoin up 1.1% on the day after a trip to $87,800.

That move marked the lowest levels since the start of January, with BTC/USD erasing more than $10,000 of gains versus month-to-date highs.

It also meant that the pair filled an open “gap” in CME Group’s Bitcoin futures market from the yearly open.

As Cointelegraph reported, such gaps often act as short-term price targets, with the market returning to them within days or even hours.

$BTC #Bitcoin now closed CME gap at $88k

We now have 3 above.
– $97.8k
– $113.4k
– $116.9k

Can be spotted on different timeframes than displayed on the image attached. https://t.co/Mnm0PdC3OH pic.twitter.com/RjOpbKGJ2Y

— The Cryptomist (@Thecryptomist) January 21, 2026

With the remaining gaps above spot price, traders still had mixed opinions about market strength.

“A rapid rise is expected,” trader CW told X followers, having said that the gap-fill was needed to ensure a “stable rally.”

CME Gap from January 1st filled.

Back to square one for the year, but at least that magnet is out of the way now. $BTC pic.twitter.com/9kKufpJidD

— Jelle (@CryptoJelleNL) January 21, 2026

Trader Jelle, meanwhile, became increasingly bearish, eyeing a retest of a downward-sloping trendline on the daily chart after an initial breakout.

“Higher high immediately followed by a lower low,” he summarized. 

“CME Gap filled and price retesting the trendline once again – but we can all agree that this ain’t looking strong anymore.”

Bitcoin investors in “capital preservation” mode

Ahead of the Wall Street open, macro factors continued to play a major part in crypto market analysis.

Related: BTC vs. new $80K ‘liquidity grab’: Five things to know in Bitcoin this week

In its latest Asia Color market update on the day, trading company QCP Capital described Bitcoin as “trading like a high-beta risk asset, highly sensitive to rates, geopolitics, and cross-market volatility.”

“Until clearer policy signals emerge, crypto is likely to stay reactive rather than directional,” it concluded. 

“For now, this is a market focused on capital preservation over conviction, watching closely whether policy missteps turn today’s tremors into something more systemic.”

Traditional hedge gold continued to outperform, seeing yet another all-time high of $4,888 per ounce on the day.

“We are all witnessing history right now,” trading resource The Kobeissi Letter reacted.