Bitcoin drops 3% in one hour due to OP_RETURN

[bbc.reporter]

Hehehehe the dump was not because of a disagreement on bitcoin's development. This might be because there are whales that might be beginning to speculate that bitcoin is presently in a bear market and the price might dump lower.

According to this article, bitcoin is on another price consolidation of 60 days which has triggered rallies before. If after this present 60 days, if the price will dump, this will certainly be the warning sign of the bear market.



Bitcoin price consolidation nears 60-day window that's historically triggered rallies

Bitcoin has remained between the November low near $80,000 and the January high around $98,000 for 59 days, and is now approaching the roughly 60-day timespan that marked previous consolidations since the collapse of crypto exchange FTX marked the cycle bottom in 2022.

Take, for example, April 2025 during the market turmoil related to President Donald Trump's tariff policies. Bitcoin bottomed near $76,000 and held between that level and $85,000 for about 52 days before breaking out higher.

Earlier, between December 2023 and mid February 2024, bitcoin ranged just below $40,000 to around $50,000 for roughly 57 days, coinciding with the debut of U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs. This consolidation resolved with a breakout to new highs in March 2024.

Another comparable phase took place from August through October 2023, when bitcoin traded between $25,000 and $30,000 for around 59 days before climbing higher.

Finally, following the FTX collapse that marked the prior cycle bottom, bitcoin consolidated for approximately 62 days around the $15,000 level. That range ended with a breakout in January 2023, signaling the start of the new market cycle.

Read in full https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/01/19/bitcoin-price-consolidation-nears-60-day-window-that-s-historically-triggered-rallies

Disagreements between developers greatly affect the value of any cryptoactive, see the case of ZEC for example.

This might be true on zcash, however, what you are implying on bitcoin is not true. Similar to the replies in this thread, you have created a fake news heehheeh. I reckon even if there was no disagreement, bitcoin will still dump because everything in the cryptospace is presently bearish.

I speculate that what might have caused the dump is the indefinite postponement on the discussion of the market structure bill after Coinbase has pulled their support for this because the of clauses being created by the senators that will be advantageous to the big banks in traditional finance and disadvantageous to DeFi and the companies on the cryptospace hehehe.

[JeffBrad12]

It's 100% because trump is threatening to take the greenland and the market response accordingly and tariffs on top of that.
Traders gotta do what traders have been doing since centuries which is trying to speculate on news in the market but most of them don't really know about OP_RETURN.

[Republikcoin.com]

It's 100% because trump is threatening to take the greenland and the market response accordingly and tariffs on top of that.
Traders gotta do what traders have been doing since centuries which is trying to speculate on news in the market but most of them don't really know about OP_RETURN.

It's also understandable that traders don't know about OP_RETURN, as they would usually prefer to bail out any assets they've purchased when such news hits the market. Lately, I've also seen such news frequently posted by local influencers, which has likely gone viral, leading to very different market responses. I hope this doesn't have a negative impact on the market, although I don't expect much bullishness in the coins in the market this year.

[davipinheiro]

This might be true on zcash, however, what you are implying on bitcoin is not true. Similar to the replies in this thread, you have created a fake news heehheeh. I reckon even if there was no disagreement, bitcoin will still dump because everything in the cryptospace is presently bearish.

I speculate that what might have caused the dump is the indefinite postponement on the discussion of the market structure bill after Coinbase has pulled their support for this because the of clauses being created by the senators that will be advantageous to the big banks in traditional finance and disadvantageous to DeFi and the companies on the cryptospace hehehe.

This is not fake news. This topic is for speculation; I could be wrong, but all the evidence points to the contrary.

It's 100% because trump is threatening to take the greenland and the market response accordingly and tariffs on top of that.
Traders gotta do what traders have been doing since centuries which is trying to speculate on news in the market but most of them don't really know about OP_RETURN.

It's also understandable that traders don't know about OP_RETURN, as they would usually prefer to bail out any assets they've purchased when such news hits the market. Lately, I've also seen such news frequently posted by local influencers, which has likely gone viral, leading to very different market responses. I hope this doesn't have a negative impact on the market, although I don't expect much bullishness in the coins in the market this year.

You're analyzing the crypto market as if it were the stock market. Logically, traders are reacting based on the news. This doesn't mean that long-time holders are no jumping ship because of OP_RETURN; just check the blockchain to see that. Facts speak for themselves. You can even say it's profit-taking and that the timing is mere coincidence. Everyone believes what they want.

[boumalo]

For those who are lost : OP_RETURN is a technical command inside Bitcoin.

OP_RETURN = a way to put a small note inside a Bitcoin transaction.

When someone sends BTC, they can add extra data (text or bytes).

Bitcoin Core v30 raised the default datacarrier size from about 80 to 83 bytes to 100,000 bytes (100 KB) for default policy, and it became a big political fight in the community.

Arbitrary data can be embedded in Bitcoin transactions and that this raises legal and ethical concerns.

There were already ways to embed data before. The v30 change mainly affects default relay policy, not what is theoretically possible.

[davipinheiro]

For those who are lost : OP_RETURN is a technical command inside Bitcoin.

OP_RETURN = a way to put a small note inside a Bitcoin transaction.

When someone sends BTC, they can add extra data (text or bytes).

Bitcoin Core v30 raised the default datacarrier size from about 80 to 83 bytes to 100,000 bytes (100 KB) for default policy, and it became a big political fight in the community.

Arbitrary data can be embedded in Bitcoin transactions and that this raises legal and ethical concerns.

There were already ways to embed data before. The v30 change mainly affects default relay policy, not what is theoretically possible.

In previous versions of Bitcoin Core, it was necessary to split spam or CSAM into multiple transactions. Now, the Bitcoin Core developers have made life easier for spammers and pedophiles who can register their garbage on the blockchain in a single transaction. That's the truth, and that's why holders are jumping ship.

[Lucius]

This topic seems like a bad joke to me, because what else can you call the 3% price drop and a little over 60k BTC that are the backbone of this story? The other day, a company bought $2+ billion worth of BTC, so the way I see it, the coins just moved from one wallet to another, as happens all the time.

[davipinheiro]

This topic seems like a bad joke to me, because what else can you call the 3% price drop and a little over 60k BTC that are the backbone of this story? The other day, a company bought $2+ billion worth of BTC, so the way I see it, the coins just moved from one wallet to another, as happens all the time.

Exactly, all this institutional buying appetite is less than the selling appetite, which is why the value isn't rising. That's the current trend: Old holders are leaving because of OP_RETURN and institutional investors are entering. A few months ago I already warned about this issue on Nostr: nevent1qvzqqqqqqypzq5u3pxxrs6xn00kn28sgawdfghlydw3qrn3aswvvn32f4p6yqwswqqsvx96z t6r5zyn939r4n49yzt8f254767wlgft2c5wmfdm7hxaw7scx00um8

[Lucius]

Exactly, all this institutional buying appetite is less than the selling appetite, which is why the value isn't rising. That's the current trend: Old holders are leaving because of OP_RETURN and institutional investors are entering.
~snip~

Do you know since when institutional investors have been buying BTC? This didn't start happening yesterday or last year, it started 5+ years ago. For some reason of your own, you are trying to spread FUD here because the price drop 3%, and what would you think if the drop was 33% or more - you would probably conclude that this is the end for Bitcoin, right?

Supply and demand are a key part of the market, there have always been those who sold and those who bought, and it will continue to be so regardless of what is happening in the background.

[davipinheiro]

Exactly, all this institutional buying appetite is less than the selling appetite, which is why the value isn't rising. That's the current trend: Old holders are leaving because of OP_RETURN and institutional investors are entering.
~snip~

Do you know since when institutional investors have been buying BTC? This didn't start happening yesterday or last year, it started 5+ years ago. For some reason of your own, you are trying to spread FUD here because the price drop 3%, and what would you think if the drop was 33% or more - you would probably conclude that this is the end for Bitcoin, right?

Supply and demand are a key part of the market, there have always been those who sold and those who bought, and it will continue to be so regardless of what is happening in the background.

You don't see it because the capitalization market is defined at the base, which is why it doesn't appear in the index, as it tracks the price. Six months ago I identified this price manipulation via the off-the-counter (OTC) market.
Here: nostr:nevent1qqsvx96zt6r5zyn939r4n49yzt8f254767wlgft2c5wmfdm7hxaw7scpz9mhxue69uhkummn w3ezuamfdejj7q3q2wgsnrpcdrfhhmf4rcywhx55tljxhgspec7c8xxfc4y6sazq8g8qxpqqqqqqzr6 ykyj
and here: nostr:naddr1qqxnzde4xyenqvphxgunzd35qyghwumn8ghj7mn0wd68ytnhd9hx2tczypfezzvv8p5dx7ldx 50q36u6j307g6azq88rmquce8z5n2r5gqaquqcyqqq823cla7j80

You should pay attention to the facts, not the manipulated numbers: Blackrock now sells tokenized BTC funds, since 06/24/25 Mastercard has started offering BTC to its entire global customer base (i.e., 3 billion people): nostr:nevent1qqsr4mc46v0cdvllcr3qzslnn826mapwd9qtr720ez0l3hvnqf5mr5gpz9mhxue69uhkummn w3ezuamfdejj7q3q2wgsnrpcdrfhhmf4rcywhx55tljxhgspec7c8xxfc4y6sazq8g8qxpqqqqqqztk 7pm7 Several commercial banks are following the same path, and various nation-states are quietly creating reserves of value, such as China, Russia, El Salvador, England, Ukraine, the United States, and many others. The regulatory landscape has never been so favorable.

Geopolitical instabilities logically also interfere, albeit to a lesser extent, with the downward movement we are seeing because nothing new has happened yet. There is no reason for the value of BTC to fall so much given the increase in M2 if it is not due to sales by existing holders; and there is no reason for holders to sell, whether via OTC or exchanges, if it is not due to the uncertainties generated by the increase in the OP_RETURN limit, a senseless change in the code that was sponsored/bribed precisely by institutional investors.

Logically, this does not appear in the numbers from CoinMarketCap, TradingView, etc.