Bitcoin Extends Selloff as Investors Turn Cautious

Crypto markets erased more of their recent gains on Thursday, Jan. 8, as investors pared risk following recent volatility and a more cautious macroeconomic landscape.

Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at around $91,000, down 1% over the past 24 hours, but still up 2.8% over the past week. Ether (ETH) is changing hands around $3,091, down about 1.9% on the day and up 3.7% over the past seven days.

XRP fell 2.5% to $2.15, though it remains up about 15% over the past week. BNB slipped 1.4% to about $885, while Solana (SOL) rose 0.6% to $136.6, according to CoinGecko.

Among top gainers, World Liberty Financial (WLFI) rose over 10% to $0.18, while Bittensor (TAO) gained 8.3% to $292, and Monero (XMR) climbed 5.2% to trade near $461. WLFI seemingly rallied on news that World Liberty is filing for a federal banking charter.

On the downside, Zcash (ZEC) was the biggest loser among large-cap tokens, falling about 11.5% to $424 amid a governance dispute. Pepe (PEPE) slid 9.9% to $0.05, while Provenance Blockchain (HASH) dropped 8.2% to $0.02.

The total cryptocurrency market capitalization is currently hovering at $3.18 trillion, down 1.1% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko. Total trading volume during the same period reached about $125 billion.

Liquidations and ETF flows

Around $444 million in liquidations occurred over the past 24 hours, according to data from Coinglass. Long positions accounted for about $381 million, while short liquidations totaled roughly $63 million.

Bitcoin recorded the largest share at around $134 million, followed by Ethereum with about $106 million. Meanwhile, Zcash saw roughly $26.8 million in liquidations, while Solana accounted for about $17 million.

In the exchange-traded fund (ETF) market, Bitcoin spot ETFs recorded $486 million in outflows on Jan. 7. Ethereum spot ETFs also saw outflows of about $98.5 million over the same period.

Elsewhere, XRP spot ETFs posted $40.8 million in outflows, while Solana spot ETFs bucked the trend, recording $2 million in net inflows, according to SoSoValue.

Jobless Claims

Earlier on Thursday, fresh U.S. labor market data further pointed to a cooling economy. Weekly jobless claims rose modestly to 208,000, slightly below expectations. This suggests layoffs remain low even as hiring stays sluggish.

This comes after job openings fell more than expected in November and hiring slowed, according to the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS).

At the same time, private payroll growth remained modest, with employers adding 41,000 jobs in December, according to ADP.