Key points
Bitcoin fell below $86,000 for the first time in two weeks, hitting a low near $85,170.
The price is down approximately 30% from its October all-time high above $126,000.
Selling pressure is coming from investors who bought near the all-time high.
Analysts said the drop was due to spot and derivatives positioning, not forced liquidations.
The liquidation triggered around $520 million in bullish cryptocurrency liquidations over 24 hours.
Bitcoin fell below $86,000 on Monday for the first time in two weeks, extending a decline that has pushed the cryptocurrency closer to its lowest levels of the year.
The world’s largest digital asset fell as much as 3.7% to $85,171 before recovering modestly during Asian trading on Tuesday. Prices subsequently fell again to around $85,575 in Hong Kong. Bitcoin is now down approximately 30% from its all-time high of over $126,000 reached in early October.
Market participants said selling has continued to emerge near the top end of Bitcoin’s recent range, particularly from investors who bought near the peak and are taking advantage of any bounce to exit positions. That has kept the token confined to a wide band between about $85,000 and $94,000.
Trading activity has remained subdued in the crypto markets. Volumes have remained low and price movements have been untracked, according to derivatives data.
Bitcoin’s weakness has also been highlighted relative to other risk assets. While stocks and bonds have shown intermittent bounces in recent weeks, Bitcoin has failed to participate, breaking its typical trend of rising along with the broader markets. Traders pointed to tight liquidity and lower risk appetite, even after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates last week.
The broader macroeconomic context remains uncertain. The last full trading week of 2025 began with uneven moves in stocks, bonds and currencies as investors awaited economic data that was expected to influence the Federal Reserve’s upcoming policy decisions.
Unlike previous sell-offs, Bitcoin’s latest decline has not been driven by large-scale forced liquidations. Instead, market participants said positioning in the spot and derivatives markets has played a larger role. Liquidation data suggests that many overleveraged trades have already unwound earlier, making selling slower but more persistent.
A notable exception to the broader pullback has been Strategy Inc., the Bitcoin-focused treasury company formerly known as MicroStrategy. The company revealed on Monday that it bought nearly $1 billion worth of Bitcoin for the second week in a row.
Most of the purchases were financed through market sales of the company’s Class A common stock, along with sales of three of its four classes of perpetual preferred stock. Critics of the strategy have warned that repeat issuance of shares could dilute existing shareholders and reduce the premium at which the shares trade relative to their Bitcoin holdings, now valued at about $59 billion.
The losses extended beyond Bitcoin. Ether, Dogecoin and XRP each fell about 5% on Monday, while shares of cryptocurrency-related companies also fell. Strategy shares fell more than 9% at one point and Coinbase Global fell about 7%.
Despite the lack of widespread Bitcoin forced selling, the broader market slowdown triggered liquidations of approximately $520 million in bullish positions across all cryptocurrencies over the past 24 hours, according to data from Coinglass.
Bitcoin last hit a 2025 low in April, when prices fell to around $74,400 after President Donald Trump’s initial tariff proposals roiled global financial markets.
Also read: Bitcoin Could Reach Multimillion-Dollar Levels in 15 Years: How Much Would You Need to Retire?