Bitcoin’s rocky October extended into the first week of November as the broader outlook for cryptocurrencies appears to be worsening. On Tuesday, the price of Bitcoin fell about 21% from its all-time high last month to around $99,000, while other cryptocurrencies fell even more sharply. And while Bitcoin has since reclaimed the key psychological mark of $100,000, some think the crypto sector’s remarkable run may be over for now.
The declines in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have been especially pronounced over the last week. As of Thursday, Bitcoin has recovered slightly to just under $103,000, but is still down about 5% over the past week. Ethereum is down about 12% to just under $3,372, and Solana is down about 19% to just under $158 during that time.
Ethereum and Solana, the most prominent currencies other than Bitcoin, known as altcoins, reached record prices at the beginning of the year, but have dropped significantly. The former has plummeted roughly 30% since August, while the latter is down roughly 41% since January.
Bitcoin boosters like to tout the asset as an independent store of value similar to gold but, as has happened in the past, the price has weakened along with the rest of the economy. In the last week, the cryptocurrency market’s stumble coincided with uncertainty over the direction of the Federal Reserve and a drop in the S&P 500.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market is still recovering from a flash crash on October 10, where traders experienced the worst cryptocurrency liquidation event in history, according to analytics firm CoinGlass. That day, exchanges liquidated more than $19 billion in leveraged positions. The sudden drop followed Trump’s Truth Social post in which he said the United States would impose a 100% tariff on China, “on top” of any tariffs it was already paying.
“The current weakness reflects a combination of (a continued effort by markets to digest) 10/10, a slightly more hawkish tone from the Federal Reserve and broader risk aversion across assets,” said Jasper De Maere, OTC trader at Wintermute.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s comments also affected crypto markets. Late last month, he hinted that the October rate cut could be the last of the year. He said his colleagues had “very different views” on future rate cuts and that “there is now a growing chorus of people who feel that maybe this is where we should at least wait for a cycle.” In the 24 hours following those comments, Bitcoin and Ethereum fell about 1.6% and 2%, respectively.
On Tuesday, as Bitcoin fell below $100,000, many on social media were quick to express their concern.