Bitcoin briefly slipped below $85,000 on Monday as cryptocurrencies and crypto-linked companies extended a nearly two-month downturn, mirroring a broader sell-off in overheated tech stocks. The cryptocurrency fell 5.6% on the day—after plunging almost 12% earlier—ending just above $85,000. Bitcoin has now lost about a third of its value since peaking at a record $126,210.50 on Oct. 6, according to Coinbase. Its spring and summer rally had tracked the stock market and benefited from improving sentiment toward digital assets in Washington, reports AP.
Companies tied closely to bitcoin holdings or digital-asset trading were hit hard. Coinbase Global fell 4.8%, Robinhood dropped 4.1%, and mining firm Riot Platforms slid 4%. Strategy, the largest publicly traded “bitcoin treasury” company—raising capital solely to purchase bitcoin—fell 3.3%. The firm holds 649,870 bitcoins valued at roughly $55.7 billion as of 4 p.m. ET Monday. Strategy lowered its year-end outlook to a range of $85,000 to $110,000, down sharply from its Oct. 30 target of $150,000.
American Bitcoin, partly owned by Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., plunged 15.6% and has lost nearly 47% of its value since Sept. 30. Other ventures linked to Donald Trump have also slumped. The World Liberty Financial token, $WLFI, now carries a market cap of about $4.14 billion, down from more than $6 billion in mid-September, according to CoinMarketCap. The Trump-themed meme coin, $TRUMP, trades at $5.70—far below its pre-inauguration high of $45.
The downturn has been amplified by heavy withdrawals from spot bitcoin ETFs, which offer exposure to bitcoin without requiring investors to hold the asset directly. Investors pulled $3.6 billion from these funds in November, the largest monthly outflow since they debuted in January 2024, according to Morningstar Direct.
Bitcoin futures have fallen nearly 24% in the past month, while gold futures have climbed about 7%, underscoring the market’s shift toward safer assets. Analysts attribute the slump to a combination of institutional selling, profit-taking by long-term holders, a more hawkish Federal Reserve and an increasingly “risk-off” mood pushing investors toward gold and bonds. Deutsche Bank said slow-moving crypto regulation has further chilled sentiment.
“While volatility is expected, the current conditions show that bitcoin’s role in diversified portfolios is being tested—and it remains unclear whether this is a brief pullback or the beginning of a longer downturn,” Deutsche Bank analysts wrote.
Regulatory momentum has also been uneven. The industry gained a boost in July when President Trump signed legislation establishing baseline rules and consumer protections for stablecoins. But a broader bill that would define the crypto market’s regulatory framework remains stalled in the Senate, despite strong backing from the crypto sector and its political allies.
Bd-pratidin English/ Jisan
