Bitcoin’s fall below $100,000 has shaken one of the world’s most momentum-driven trades, raising questions about whether the sell-off is just another shakeup or the start of something deeper. Bitcoin fell below $95,000 on Friday, wiping out almost all of its gains so far this year. The cryptocurrency has reached some surprising milestones in 2025. It reached an all-time high of $126,000 on October 6 before falling a few days later. It has lost about 25% since October’s high, in signs of a deepening bear market, and is currently trading at $95,049. Industry experts point to a two-stage slowdown: an initial liquidation driven by macroeconomic factors, followed by forced liquidations. However, longer-term investors maintain that the foundations of the digital asset story remain in place. Some investors still view bitcoin as a hedge against currency devaluation, inflation and long-term monetary expansion. BTC.CM= Mountain to date Bitcoin price so far this year The turning point, said Alessio Quaglini, CEO of digital asset solutions company Hex Trust, came on Oct. 10, when renewed trade tensions between the United States and China triggered an immediate sell-off in broad risk assets. In the days that followed, there was a “full liquidation cascade that wiped out billions in leveraged positions.” “This is a restoration of liquidity, 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 thawed, the bitcoin market has struggled to find its footing. Peter Chung, head of research at Presto Research, said “poor liquidity since the 10/10 crisis and fear of the four-year cycle coming to an end are the main culprits… even a small routine trade can cause price swings.” Macroeconomic headwinds are also adding pressure. Hopes for a Federal Reserve interest rate cut in December are fading, and the US government shutdown that suspended the release of economic data also hit sentiment. Tim Sun, senior researcher at digital asset financial services firm HashKey, said the tightening environment has hit ETFs particularly hard. “Bitcoin ETFs attracted over $100 billion shortly after their approval, but the tightening of macro liquidity… has significantly slowed institutional inflows,” he said. In fact, that capital is now on the verge of disappearing, Sun said. More rejections to come? Few expect the decline to reverse in the short term. “We have to be honest: This correction may not be over…if stocks tank, we could easily retest the low $70,000s, perhaps briefly below,” Quaglini said. Jeff Mei, chief operating officer at cryptocurrency exchange BTSE, echoed that further declines could be coming, adding that bitcoin was still behaving like a classic risk asset, and that with AI valuations under scrutiny and rate cuts in doubt, “further price declines could be warranted.” However, market watchers emphasize that this reset looks very different from past crises. “This is not 2022: there is no credit contagion, no cascading insolvencies, no systemic failures,” Quaglini said. “Once conditions stabilize… we still expect Bitcoin to hit new highs” on a 12- to 18-month horizon. Chung said retail investors should avoid trying to time short-term swings, while suggesting taking the approach of dollar-cost averaging, or buying small amounts over time, similar to systematic investment plans, and focusing on understanding the underlying networks of bitcoin and Ethereum rather than trading headlines. Sun added that long-term buyers should wait for a macro signal, not a technical one. Bitcoin’s upside, he said, depends on global liquidity becoming steadily more flexible. Meanwhile, Hunter Horsley, CEO of asset management company Bitwise, sees current levels as potentially attractive to strategic investors. “One way to look at pricing right now is that it’s a reasonable entry point… the setup is pretty constructive,” he said, noting that Bitwise saw more customers investing in cryptocurrencies in the last quarter than ever before in the company’s seven-year history.
