Bitcoin (BTC) fell below the $100,000 level on Tuesday on at least some major exchanges — Coinbase, Gemini and Kraken, to name three — its weakest price since late June in a broader crypto market correction. The move below that price was met with at least a bit of buying, though, with BTC bouncing back to $101,300 within minutes.
The largest cryptocurrency now has declined more than 20% from its record high above $126,000, hit just one month ago. It also made a new low below the crypto flash crash on October 10, which ranked as possibly the largest liquidation events in crypto history, taking BTC to $103,000 from above $120,000 in less than a day.
In the following weeks, recovery attempts fizzled out as bounces above $110,000 met with quick selloffs.
Among the more recent catalysts for the selling is the Federal Reserve’s surprise hawkishness last week, with Jerome Powell and a growing number of his cohorts cooling expectations for another interest rate cut in December.
Bitcoin’s price struggles of late have been particularly frustrating for bulls as they’ve come alongside continued record-setting rallies in stocks and — until recently — gold. Today is notable, though, in that assets are selling off across the board, with the Nasdaq lower by 2% and gold off 1.6%.
Not correlated on the way up, but perfectly correlated on the way down. It’s been a rough autumn for bitcoin.
Paul Howard, director at crypto trading firm Wincent, said the summer’s strong demand from ETF investors and digital asset treasuries (DATs) has faded, replaced by long-term wallets offloading their holdings.
“Consensus would indicate we are in what could become a bear market aligning to bitcoin’s much lauded 4-year cycle,” he said. Still, he noted that if BTC manages to hold above $100,000, the market could avoid widespread panic selling and deeper liquidations.
Gary O’Shea, head of global market insights at asset manager Hashdex, cited a combination of macro pressures — the possibility of the Fed not cutting rates this year, concerns about tariffs, credit markets and equity market valuations — as drivers of the current downturn. Still, he stressed that the long-term outlook remains positive.
“We do not view today’s price action as a sign of a weakening long-term investment case for bitcoin,” he said. With institutional adoption accelerating, O’Shea argued that BTC could still climb a new all-time high in the coming months.
Read more: Bitcoin Careens Toward $100K as Morning Bounce Fails
UPDATE (Nov. 4, 20:05 UTC): Added analyst comments about BTC price action and outlook.