Bitcoin (BTC) Price Prediction as BTC Falls Ahead of US Debt Ceiling Deadline

Bitcoin (BTC) price remained largely range-bound throughout the day, maintaining support above $93,000 before bearish pressure drove the price closer to $90,000

Bitcoin price remained largely range-bound on Friday, maintaining support above $93,000 before bearish pressure drove the price closer to $90,000 during the late trading hours.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency was trading at $91,863.90 at the time of writing, down over 2% on the day.

However, BTC managed to post a 3.2% gain over the past week.

The border cryptocurrency market remained in a downward trajectory as bearish sentiment prevailed.

The overall cryptocurrency market capitalisation dropped 4.3% in the past 24 hours to $3.36 trillion as of press time.

The crypto fear and greed index dropped by 4 points to 50 from yesterday’s 54, signalling a shift towards neutral sentiment as traders adopt a more cautious stance in the face of uncertain market conditions.

Bitcoin traders reacted to the looming US debt ceiling deadline on Friday as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned Congress that the U.S. could hit its borrowing limit between January 14 and 23.

If lawmakers fail to act in time, the US risks running out of cash to meet its financial obligations, which could trigger significant economic consequences.

During such scenarios, investors tend to pull back from volatile assets, seeking safety in more stable options.

Interestingly, while Bitcoin is often viewed as a hedge against economic instability, it has consistently underperformed in the days following debt ceiling resolutions.

Bitcoin also dropped as bearish technicals appeared on its daily chart. Earlier in the day, veteran trader Peter Brandt flagged a head and shoulders top pattern on the BTC/USD chart.

This is a classic reversal pattern that indicates a shift from a bullish to a bearish trend.

It is usually followed by a price drop if it’s confirmed. Based on the chart, a daily close below the neckline at around $90,000 would validate the pattern.

If this breakdown happens, Bitcoin could see a drop towards the $78,000 level in the coming weeks, according to the analyst.

Adding to the narrative, analyst Ali Martinez highlighted a lack of support below the $93,000 mark.

IntoTheBlock data shows a sharp drop in buying interest in this price range, with fewer Bitcoin addresses holding BTC below this level.

With Bitcoin now trading at $91,863.90, this lack of support becomes even more critical.

This means that if Bitcoin fails to reclaim $93,000, there’s little structural support to prevent further downturn.

Yet the long-term narrative remained bullish as many analysts reiterated that corrections are normal during bull runs, and Bitcoin has averaged 30% pullbacks during past cycles.

One bullish case was offered by trader and influencer Jason A. Williams, who told his X followers that the biggest digital currency was trading in an accumulation zone, which could lay the foundation for a break out above $131,000 by Q1 2025.

Fellow analyst Moustache reinforced the narrative, pointing to a bullish megaphone pattern that BTC had formed over 3.5 years and was currently retesting.

Once confirmed, he added that this could push prices above six figures once again.

Ai16z (AI16Z) gained over 20% in the past 24 hours, bringing its market cap to over $1.6 billion when writing.

Its daily trading had fallen 17.6% to $115 million after starting the day with a trading volume of $202 million.

ai16z (AI16Z) deviated from the broader crypto market downturn after the project shared a plan to update its tokenomics to add more utility to its native token.

Ai16z is an AI-focused venture capital fund powered by meme fund launcher Daos.fun. According to its updated tokenomics, the project plans to create an open-source Pump.fun inspired launch pad for its AI projects.

Fees generated from the platform will be used to buy back AI16Z tokens from the market and create a liquidity pool.

The project also plans to utilize the token as the base currency within its agent-run ecosystem.

The updated tokenomics of the project and the increased utility of AI16Z tokens seem to have drawn investor interest.

LDO rose 3.2% over the past day, trading at $1.84 while its market cap stood at $1.63 billion.

While there was no particular reason for the recent gains in LDO, the altcoin rallied on the back of a significant surge in trading activity and rising open interest.

Data shows a 41.48% increase in trading volume to $193.01 million and a 3.