Analyst says BTC’s slowdown reflects prices running ahead of ETF-driven adoption, not a broken long-term thesis.
Bitcoin (BTC) is trading around $90,000 on January 28, 2026, after several days of choppy price action that has left many traders uneasy.
However, ETF analyst Eric Balchunas has highlighted the cryptocurrency’s multi-year gains in comparison to traditional assets, arguing that recent frustration overlooks the broader picture.
Bitcoin’s Longer-Term Gains Clash with Short-Term Anxiety
Balchunas wrote on X that Bitcoin has risen about 429% since 2022, compared with roughly 350% for silver, 177% for gold, and 140% for the Nasdaq-100, arguing that the current slowdown looks mild when viewed against those returns.
“In other words Bitcoin spanked everything so bad in ’23 and ’24 (which ppl seem to forget) that those other assets still haven’t caught up even after having their greatest year ever and BTC being in a coma,” the analyst said.
In his post, Balchunas traced much of Bitcoin’s strong performance to the period before and after BlackRock filed for a spot Bitcoin ETF in 2023. He said prices ran ahead of the “institutionalization” story, leaving the market in need of time while actual adoption plays out.
“People see one red candle and forget what that chart actually looks like,” one user replied, echoing a common sentiment among long-term holders.
Others struck a similar tone. Dan, a longtime crypto commentator, wrote that impatience during flat or falling markets tends to separate traders reacting to price from those holding a fundamentals-based view, something he said has happened repeatedly since 2011.
The backdrop is a market that has struggled to find direction in recent weeks, with Bitcoin failing multiple times to break resistance between $94,000 and $98,000 and then sliding below $90,000. Analysts cited patterns such as a bear flag and a failed head-and-shoulders setup, with downside targets as low as $70,000 if key support levels fail.
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Price Action Shows Pressure, While Narratives Stay Intact
At the time of writing, CoinGecko data showed Bitcoin up about 1% in the last 24 hours but down roughly 6% over the past two weeks and more than 13% across the last year. The asset briefly dipped to around $86,000 earlier this week before rebounding, with resistance still clustered near the $90,000 to $92,000 zone. Meanwhile, its dominance sits near 57%, suggesting altcoins have not meaningfully outperformed during the pullback.
Broader risk-off conditions, such as uncertainty around U.S. monetary policy and large liquidations in derivatives markets, have contributed to some of the weakness around BTC.
Balchunas questioned whether Bitcoin even needs a fresh narrative, pointing to debt growth and currency debasement as ongoing themes, and adding that easier access through ETFs means allocation decisions can now unfold over time rather than through sudden bursts of speculation.
For now, Bitcoin’s chart may look uncomfortable on shorter timeframes, but zooming out could help explain why some analysts see the current lull less as a breakdown and more as a pause after an aggressive run.
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