Bitcoin fell below $90,000 overnight, extending a sell-off that has spread to cryptocurrencies and several of this year’s most traded tech stocks. The drop briefly pushed the asset to around $89,500, its lowest level since April, before prices stabilized early on Tuesday.
Bitcoin had reached nearly $125,000 by early October, helped by strong trading activity and expectations that a cryptocurrency-friendly administration in Washington would establish a more predictable political environment for the industry. The current pullback marks a strong reversal of those levels. As of 10 a.m. ET, bitcoin was trading near $91,500, according to data from CoinDesk.
The recession has hit companies whose revenues are closely tied to digital asset trading. Robinhood Markets, which earlier in the year benefited from a surge in cryptocurrency activity on its platform, has fallen 21% so far in November. Coinbase Global, one of the largest US cryptocurrency exchanges, fell 23% during the same period as volumes cooled.
Cryptocurrency weakness comes alongside the decline of major global indices. The S&P 500 is down nearly 3% this month, Germany’s DAX has posted a similar loss, and Japan’s Nikkei has fallen about 7%. Shares of Nvidia, whose rapid rise earlier in the year was tied to strong demand for AI-related hardware, fell 9% in November.
Recent trading data shows that investors have been withdrawing from assets that saw big rallies earlier in the year. Cryptocurrencies, fast-growing technology stocks and companies linked to artificial intelligence were among the areas where sales were most concentrated in November.
Bitcoin’s drop below the $90,000 threshold puts the cryptocurrency back near levels seen in early spring, ending a nearly six-month period in which it remained above that mark.
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