Bitcoin has fallen to below $90,000. This is the first time it has dropped so low in six months.
The price of Bitcoin dropped drastically on Monday, the 17th of November, hitting prices as low as $89,426. It shed 5.3% in less than 24 hours, and continued to hover around that mark through the evening and into European trading hours. This was the first time it had fallen so low in seven months. This has totally erased all gains from 2025, and it is down nearly 30% from its $126,000 peak.
The Damage in the Crypto Market
At the time of writing (18th November), the Bitcoin price is hovering at $91,104. This is due to a marginal pickup in the last few hours. However, Bitcoin is not the only victim, and the crypto slide has also hit other coins. Ether, which is the second largest cryptocurrency by market cap, also lost 5.6% falling to $2967. It has been under pressure for some months now and is a long way from threatening the $5000 barrier at $4,955 as it was in August. Further casualties were found to lose between 3.9% and 3%, including SOL, BNB, and XRP.
Much of this seems to be coming from a perfect storm of economic factors and less appetite for risk assets. Corporate institutions, which had been lapping up Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies over the last year, began to pile in and sell off, exacerbating the situation. Some of the biggest holders of cryptocurrency, such as Strategy, Riot, and Mara, all fell in value.
This has placed further market pressure on tech stocks, particularly in Asian markets such as South Korea and Japan. There have been ripples in the market since April, when a sell-off came as a result of tariffs in the United States.
What Factors Have Caused Bitcoin to Crash?
Inevitably, what goes up must come down, and Bitcoin’s record high of $126,000 could be viewed as the start. This was particularly true as the global economy was less than favorable for risk assets at the time, with persistent conflicts in Europe, tariffs in the US, and cooling labour reports.
By late October, tech stocks started to fall as talk of an AI bubble burst appeared. This halted institutional inflows of Bitcoin. By the start of November, this had turned to panic. The currency dropped below $100k for the first time since June, and followed with a slide towards $95k.
Bitcoin has also been noticeably down in trading volumes. Part of this has been the fact that it is finite, and much of it has been tied up in corporate treasuries. With fewer retail and institutional buyers and plenty of short-term sales, demand has decreased. Huge sell-offs by whales and movements have also decreased confidence. An example of this was defunct crypto exchange Mt. Gox, which moved a large amount on Monday night, shifting 10,608 BTC to a new address.
Macroeconomic Factors Driving Bitcoin Down
All of this has proven that despite Bitcoin being touted as digital gold and a hedge against market movements, it is still very much a risk asset. In times of economic uncertainty, when central banks raise interest rates, investors turn to safe assets. These include bonds, gold, and the US dollar. This has been exacerbated by slowing growth in global economies. Rising inflation rates have also added to worries.
A further factor is the end of the Bitcoin cycle. Every four years, Bitcoin has a halving event, where the reward for mining Bitcoin is lowered. Typically, around six months later, the price of Bitcoin rises considerably, as it did after last April’s event. This boosts the crypto market, but inevitably results in a drawback.
This current fall could be many people predicting that the halving event boost has ended, with many stepping out early. Unlike previous halving events, the rules have now changed for Bitcoin and cryptocurrency.
There have been immediate casualties in the crypto market. DappRadar launched in 2018 and was a decentralized application (dApp) analytics platform. A crucial tool in mapping usage for the Defi app sector, it has decided to close its doors after seven years. They cited the current environment, claiming it was financially unviable to run a platform in this climate. Part of this may be due to a crash in their native token. Known as RADAR, it lost more than 35% in one day.
The question on many investors’ lips is whether they should buy the dip. Reports seem to point to traders being extremely bearish on Bitcoin and the wider crypto market. This could signal that the fall has not yet bottomed out, and it may push even further. Taking cues from previous cycles, this low point could hang around for some time. This may be the point at which many begin to slowly accumulate, looking at positive changes in the wider economy to see when prices begin to rise again.
