A worsening macroeconomic climate and the collapse of industry giants such as FTX and Terra have weighed on bitcoin’s price this year.
STR | Nurphoto via Getty Images
Bitcoin fell through the $90,000 level overnight, weakened by sell pressure in equities as the crypto market awaits its next catalyst.
The price of bitcoin fell 6% to $88,519, according to Coin Metrics. Earlier, it fell as low as $87,736.
The decline puts the blue chip coin almost 20% off its all-time high reached on President Donald Trump’s inauguration day.
“Equities have faced a few difficult sessions over the last week, with top-performing stocks down many times the index, as markets grapple with increased uncertainty under the new administration,” said Steven Lubka, head of private clients and family offices at Swan Bitcoin. “This pressure has spilled over into bitcoin and crypto markets. … Ultimately, the lack of visible short-term catalysts and pressure from equities creates an environment for profit-taking and pressure from shorts.”
Bitcoin falls below the key $90,000 level Monday
Bitcoin kicked off the year in rally mode, fueled by optimism about the positive changes the new Trump administration was expected to make for the crypto industry. However, since the President issued his widely anticipated executive order on crypto at the end of January – the contents of which were well received by the industry despite its tamer than hoped for language on a strategic bitcoin reserve – the market has had little to look forward to.
While optimism about the long-term positive impact Trump’s policies could have for crypto remains high, its movements have been and may continue to be dictated by macroeconomic trends.
Lubka said he believes bitcoin will finish digesting this move and resume its long-term move higher by mid-March.
The $90,000 level marks the bottom of the narrow range bitcoin has been trading in since the end of November. Analysts have warned that if bitcoin were to meaningfully break below the level, it could see a deeper pullback toward $80,000.
Other cryptocurrencies fared worse on Monday. Ether and Solana’s sol token each tumbled 9%. The broader market of cryptocurrencies, as measured by the CoinDesk 20 index, lost more than 8%.
