Bitcoin’s slide below $100,000 has shaken one of the world’s fastest-growing exchanges, raising questions about whether the selloff is just another upheaval or the start of something deeper. Bitcoin fell below $90,000 on Tuesday, and its gains so far this year have been wiped out. The cryptocurrency hit some astonishing milestones in 2025. It reached an all-time high of $126,000 on October 6 before falling a few days later. It has lost more than 28% since the October high, a sign of a deepening bear market, and is currently trading at $90,212. Sector experts speak of a slowdown in two stages: an initial massive sale of macroeconomic origin, followed by forced liquidations. However, longer-term investors say the fundamentals of the digital asset story remain in place. Some investors still view Bitcoin as a hedge against currency depreciation, inflation, and long-term monetary expansion. BTC.CM = Bitcoin price on a mountain since the beginning of the year The turning point, said Alessio Quaglini, CEO of digital asset solutions company Hex Trust, came on October 10, when renewed trade tensions between the United States and China triggered an immediate sell-off of general risk assets. In the days that followed, there was a “cascade of complete liquidations that wiped out billions of leveraged positions.” “This is a liquidity reset, not a loss of confidence in the asset,” he said. Beyond bitcoin, the broader crypto complex has also come under pressure. The second most popular cryptocurrency, ether, has lost more than 35% from its August high of $4,954. While tensions between the two economic superpowers have since eased, the bitcoin market is struggling to find its feet. Peter Chung, head of research at Presto Research, said “low liquidity since the 10/10 crash and fear of the end of the four-year cycle are the main culprits…even a small routine transaction can cause price fluctuations.” Macroeconomic headwinds are also putting increased pressure. Hopes of a Federal Reserve rate cut in December are fading, as the US government’s paralysis which suspended the publication of economic data has also shaken confidence. Tim Sun, principal researcher at digital asset financial services firm HashKey, said the tightening environment had hit ETFs particularly hard. “Bitcoin ETFs attracted more than $100 billion shortly after their approval, but tightening macro liquidity… significantly slowed institutional flows,” he said. In fact, that capital is now disappearing, Sun said. More drops to come? Few expect the decline to reverse in the near future. “We have to be honest: This correction may not be over…if stocks recover, we could easily retest $70,000, perhaps briefly below,” Quaglini said. Jeff Mei, chief operating officer of cryptocurrency exchange BTSE, echoed that more declines could follow, adding that bitcoin was still behaving like a classic risk-on asset, and that with AI valuations under scrutiny and rate cuts uncertain, a “further price decline could be warranted.” However, market observers point out that this reset is very different from past crises. “We are not in 2022: there is no credit contagion, no cascading insolvency, no systemic failure,” Quaglini said. “Once conditions stabilize…we still expect bitcoin to reach new highs” over a 12 to 18 month horizon. Chung said retail investors should avoid trying to time short-term fluctuations, while suggesting taking a dollar-cost averaging approach, or buying small amounts over time, similar to systematic investment plans, and focusing on understanding the underlying Bitcoin and Ethereum networks rather than headlines. Sun added that long-term buyers should wait for a macroeconomic signal, not a technical one. According to him, Bitcoin’s advantage depends on a lasting easing of global liquidity. Hunter Horsley, CEO of asset management firm Bitwise, sees current levels as potentially attractive for strategic investors. “One way to look at prices right now is that this is a reasonable entry point… the setup is indeed quite constructive,” he said, noting that Bitwise saw more clients investing in crypto in the last quarter than ever before in the company’s seven-year history.
