FAKT News Agency has alreadywrittenthat Bitcoin has fallen almost twice in the past few days – and it did it the way major markets fall: quickly, hard, and without the right to pause. From $126,000, which seemed like the new norm in the fall, it has slid to $63,000–70,000.
And this is no longer just another wave of crypto panic, but a situation where money is getting more expensive, investors are fleeing risk, exchange-traded funds are losing weight, and leveraged trading is starting to explode in a chain. Then everything happened mechanically: support was broken – liquidations took off – exchanges and algorithms sold automatically – and the market fell even deeper.
This collapse illustrates an unpleasant fact: Bitcoin is no longer an “anti-system”. It has become part of Wall Street. And if it falls together with Nasdaq, then we are not dealing with “digital gold”, but the most nervous asset in the world’s portfolio. And this is not just a crypto story, but a marker that global money is choosing fear again.
Not gold, but a high-risk bet: Bitcoin increasingly resembles tech stocks
Bitcoin todayis not behavingas its early supporters expected. Instead of being a “digital gold” that lives independently of stock markets, it is increasingly moving like a classic risk asset, similar to technology stocks.
During the recent downturn, Bitcoin and the crypto market fell in sync with technology assets. In times of uncertainty, capital often flows not into Bitcoin, but into traditional safe-haven assets, such as gold. That is why the thesis that the “Bitcoin as digital gold” narrative is weakening is increasingly being heard: during turbulence, gold rises and Bitcoin falls.
The reason is simple. The more deeply Bitcoin is integrated into fund portfolios through exchange-traded funds, the more strongly it moves together with other risk assets. When investors go into risk-averse mode, they sell Bitcoin just like they sell technology stocks.
To the average investor, Bitcoin no longer looks like a safe-haven asset. It increasinglylookslike a high-risk part of a financial portfolio.
“Trump rally” deflated: politics lags market expectations
What the media calls the “Trump rally” has effectively been erased. This means that the market has overestimated the political factor.
Financial Timesexplainsthat Bitcoin rose on expectations of a pro-crypto US rate, but enthusiasm faded when it became clear that legislation was stalling. Reuters emphasizesthat the crypto market is reacting to the lack of quick results and the general risk aversion of investors.
The White House did announce the creation of a state reserve of digital assets, but symbolic decisions do not replace the rules of the game. For big capital, what matters is not whether the policy sounds friendly, but whether there is a stable legislative field for exchanges, banks, stablecoins and payment infrastructure. If this process drags on, the market begins to shed the political premium that it previously built into the price.
This is felt in its own way for us: if the US tightens the rules or “tightens the screws”, liquidity in crypto around the world decreases, entry and exit conditions worsen, volatility and exchange rate instability increase.
Crypto is bursting at the seams: banks are not yet collapsing, but stress is already in the system
The risk of a global financial crisis due to the fall of Bitcoin currently appears limited. But local financial stress is already real.
Companies that have accumulated Bitcoin on their balance sheets are recording large-scale paper losses. In particular, Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) predicts a potential loss of about $5.5 billion. This means a blow to the financial stability of companies that have relied on crypto as a “corporate reserve”.
Such losses can put pressure on the ability to service debts. But this is more a risk of individual business models than a systemic banking threat.
However, the history of banks integrated into the crypto sector (Silvergate and Signature Bank) shows that if crypto enters the banking system too deeply, the consequences can be wider than they seem at the moment.
Altcoins are pouring harder: where the true scale of the panic is visible
Bitcoin may fall, but even more interesting is how the rest of the crypto market behaves. Because that’s where you can see whether the system is simply “blowing off steam” or whether liquidity is really coming out.
When Bitcoin falls, other cryptocurrencies usually fall even more. On days when Bitcoin fell below $70,000, Ethereum lost about 10–11% per day, and XRP – up to 17%. This is a typical picture, because altcoins are less stable, because they have fewer large buyers and less liquidity.
Stablecoins (USDT and USDC) work as an indicator in such situations. People are either transferring money to them to ride out the storm in the digital dollar, or are withdrawing funds from crypto into regular dollars altogether. The fact that the combined capitalization of USDT and USDC fell to $257.9 billion may mean that some money was indeed leaving the crypto market.
DeFi also collapsed. The total amount of money locked in crypto services has decreased by about 12%, from $120 billion to $105 billion. But it is important to keep in mind that this could not have happened due to a massive capital flight, but because the crypto assets themselves became cheaper, and the total figure automatically fell along with the price.
Crypto-Zoom on the Horizon: What Will Mark the “Bottom”
If Bitcoin Can Almost Halve, Can It Be a “Protection”? The reality is unpleasant: Bitcoin can only work as a store of value in the long term. In the short term, it behaves like a risky asset and moves with the Nasdaq.
Those who bought Bitcoin as insurance against devaluation found themselves in a situation where, in times of global fear, the crypto falls just like the stock market.
Geopolitics also affects crypto – not directly, but through the general field of uncertainty. Trade wars, sanctions, tensions between the US and China, new tariffs, conflicts – all this pushes the market into risk-aversion mode. And when investors are afraid, they sell the most volatile.
A separate factor is miners. These are companies that “mine” Bitcoin on expensive equipment and constantly pay for electricity and infrastructure maintenance. When the price of Bitcoin falls, mining becomes less profitable. The hash rate has decreased by about 15%, and this may mean that some miners are turning off their equipment because it is becoming unprofitable to work.
In such conditions, miners can sell Bitcoin reserves to survive. And the massive sales of miners are putting additional pressure on the market.
The main question now is: is this just a correction or the beginning of a long crypto winter? There is no single forecast. Some analysts believe that this is a market clearing after overheating. Others are talking about a prolonged decline.
Investopediawritesthat the crypto market lost more than $500 billion in capitalization in a week and calls it the beginning of “crypto winter.” The Financial Times writes that rates on prediction markets show a high probability of moving below $60,000 in 2026. Barron’s mentions scenarios of a drop to $38,000.
But there is another position: MarketWatch writes that some investors see such a collapse as an opportunity to buy cheaper if positive catalysts appear.
The signs that the fall is ending are quite simple. Bitcoin should return above $70,000 and remain there stably. The outflow of money from exchange-traded funds should also stop. If this does not happen, the market may be stuck in a “cold phase” for a long time – with rebounds, but without a quick return to the highs.
Crypto-romanticism is over: Bitcoin now plays by the rules of the market
The current Bitcoin collapse shows 3 unpleasant things for crypto-romanticists at once. First: Bitcoin’s fall is an indicator that global money has become more expensive and cautious. When cheap money runs out, assets that live on expectations and liquidity are the first to fall.
Second: it looks like a collapse of political expectations from the US. The market overestimated the speed of the “new crypto politics” and is now simply shedding the excess optimism premium.
Third: Bitcoin has finally become part of the traditional financial system. If it falls with the Nasdaq, reacts to the US Federal Reserve and moves through exchange-traded funds, it is no longer anti-system, but a risky financial asset in the global portfolio.
In a sense, this collapse was a moment of truth: Bitcoin ceased to be a legend of freedom from the system and became a mirror of the system. And when a crack appears in that mirror, it doesn’t mean that crypto is dead. It means that global money has switched modes again.
Tetyana Viktorova
