Key Points:
- Bitcoin fell below $70,000 for the first time since November 2024.
- Over $2 billion in crypto positions were liquidated this week alone.
- The asset is now down 40% from its October high of $126,000.
- Analysts warn the price could slide further toward the $60,000 range.
Bitcoin stumbled hard on Thursday, dropping below the $70,000 mark. This is the first time the price has dipped this low since November 2024. By early morning, the cryptocurrency traded near $69,332. This decline didn’t happen in a vacuum. A broad sell-off in U.S. tech stocks on Wednesday spilled over, dragging digital assets down with it. Precious metals are also volatile, with silver plunging and gold under pressure, but the crypto market is taking the hardest hit.
James Butterfill, head of research at CoinShares, calls $70,000 a crucial “psychological level.” He warns that failing to hold this line could push prices down significantly, likely into the $60,000 to $65,000 range.
The market is currently suffering from massive liquidations. When prices hit specific low points, trading platforms automatically force traders to sell their positions. Data from Coinglass shows the market wiped out more than $2 billion in long and short positions this week alone.
The trend looks grim compared to last year. Bitcoin has slid steadily since reaching an all-time high of over $126,000 in October. It is now sitting roughly 40% below that record. Other tokens like Ether and XRP have fallen even further.
Maja Vujinovic, CEO at FG Nexus, said that the “straight line bull run” people hoped for isn’t happening. She noted that hype is no longer driving the price. Instead, the market is moving based on pure capital flow, and right now, that money is leaving.
The big players are changing their tune, too. While institutional investors previously propped up the price, they are now selling. A report from CryptoQuant reveals that demand from these giants has “reversed materially.”
U.S. exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which bought heavily a year ago, are net sellers in 2026. To make matters worse, Bitcoin broke below its 365-day moving average. This is a technical signal that traders watch closely, and it often predicts further losses.
