Bitcoin fell sharply on Thursday, dropping below $85,000 for the first time in nearly two months, as a broad pullback in risk assets swept through global markets and intensified pressure on cryptocurrencies.
The world’s largest digital asset slid as much as 5.7% to $84,233, its lowest level since Dec. 1.
The decline marked a significant breakdown after weeks of sideways trading and underscored the fragility of sentiment across the crypto market.
Losses were even steeper among smaller tokens, with Ether, XRP, Dogecoin, Cardano and Solana all falling by 6% or more.
The sharp move lower in prices triggered a wave of forced selling across crypto derivatives markets.
Around $785 million worth of digital assets were liquidated over the past 24 hours, according to data compiled by Coinglass.
More than half of those liquidations occurred in just the last four hours, reflecting the speed at which losses cascaded as key technical levels were breached.
The liquidation surge added further downward pressure to spot prices, amplifying volatility and accelerating the decline in major cryptocurrencies.
Risk-off mood spreads across markets
The latest drop extended a broader downturn that has persisted in crypto markets since early October.
Bitcoin prices had largely stagnated in recent weeks, even as technology stocks and precious metals such as gold and silver rallied.
That divergence broke down abruptly, however, as cryptocurrencies began to mirror a wider selloff in risk assets.
Technology stocks led the decline, with Microsoft shares collapsing more than 11%, a move that would rank as their worst one-day fall since March 2020.
The selloff followed the company’s report of slowing growth in its cloud business and dragged the Nasdaq Composite lower by roughly 1.5%, reinforcing a risk-off tone across markets.
The pressure was not limited to equities. Precious metals, which had surged to record highs, also reversed violently.
Gold, which had briefly climbed above $5,600 per ounce earlier in the session — having never traded above $5,000 before Sunday night — plunged nearly 10% within minutes during US morning trade, falling back below $5,200.
Silver followed a similar trajectory, sliding from around $121 per ounce to $108.
The abrupt reversal in both equities and metals highlighted the scale of deleveraging taking place as investors rushed to reduce exposure to volatile assets.
ETF flows add to selling pressure
Bitcoin exchange-traded funds have also come under strain.
So far this week, bitcoin ETFs have recorded $160.1 million in net outflows, according to data from SoSoValue, extending a pattern of capital leaving the products amid market turbulence.
Julio Moreno, head of research at CryptoQuant, said the recent pullback represents the first meaningful stress test for bitcoin ETFs since their rapid growth last year.
Moreno noted that cumulative ETF flows peaked at $72.6 billion on Oct. 10, 2025, and have since seen $6.1 billion in net outflows.
That reduction has cut ETF holdings to about $66.5 billion, representing an 8.4% drawdown from the peak.
“If price holds above ETF realized price, it gives this cohort a reason to stay invested. If it fails, ETF flows risk shifting from passive consolidation into active distribution. Right now, Bitcoin is trading at the line where ETF conviction is tested,” Moreno wrote.