The price of Bitcoin fell to new six-month lows on Friday, decisively breaking below the psychological $100,000 mark and intensifying a sell-off that has wiped out nearly a quarter of its value in just over a month.
At midday, the price of bitcoin was trading between $94,000 and $97,000, its weakest level since early May and a sharp drop from October’s all-time high of $126,296, according to data from Bitcoin Magazine Pro.
At the time of writing, the price of bitcoin is at $94,850, but it bounced to $94,000 levels.
The drop caps a chaotic week in global markets, where risk assets from tech giants to cryptocurrency stocks have tumbled amid collapsing expectations for a Federal Reserve rate cut in December.
Just two weeks ago, traders calculated that there was an almost certain 97% probability of easing. Today, that probability has dropped to about 50%, leading to deleveraging in both stocks and digital assets.
Why is the price of Bitcoin going down?
Macroeconomic pressures are only part of the story. Bitcoin price faces internal market dynamics that have amplified the decline. According to new data from CryptoQuant, long-term holders have sold approximately 815,000 BTC in the last 30 days, the largest such exodus since early 2024.
Spot demand has weakened at the worst possible time, and US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs have seen hundreds of millions in daily outflows, draining liquidity and fueling bearish momentum.
The turmoil extends beyond cryptocurrencies. Risk-sensitive stocks, including Nvidia, Tesla, Palantir, Coinbase and Bitcoin miners, took a hit in this week’s sessions as investors fled speculative assets.
Growing concerns about an AI bubble, combined with uncertainty around delays in US economic data following the 43-day government shutdown, have pushed the VIX to its highest reading since mid-October.
Institutional purchases have fallen below the daily supply issued by miners, adding constant selling pressure at a time when liquidity is tightening.
Bitcoin price falters to complicated levels
Bitcoin price now remains near its closely watched 365-day moving average around $100,000, a level that analysts say could determine whether the current pullback turns into a steeper correction, according to Bitcoin Pro Magazine.
Bitfinex researchers noted that Bitcoin Magazine That the decline from the October peak closely tracks typical mid-cycle pullbacks, matching the roughly 22% pullbacks seen during the 2023-2025 bull market.
Despite the drop below a bitcoin price of $100,000, they estimate that around 72% of all bitcoins in circulation are still generating profits, an indication that long-term holders are still making profits even as sentiment weakens.
Other analysts see signs that the market may be approaching a bottom. JPMorgan estimates that the current production cost of bitcoin, driven by increasing network difficulty, stands at around $94,000, a level that has historically acted as a strong downward anchor.
Now that the price is approaching that threshold, the bank argues that bitcoin’s price-to-cost ratio has once again approached all-time lows and maintains a 6-12 month bullish outlook with a target of approximately $170,000.
Still, the forces shaping this correction are much larger than retail traders. Whales, institutions and leveraged market structures now dictate most major moves. Individual transfers from wallets containing thousands of BTC can change sentiment between exchanges.
But the recent wave of bitcoin whale selling is not a sign of panic but rather typical late-cycle behavior, according to Glassnode.
Glassnode says long-term holders are steadily making profits, with monthly spending rising from 12,000 BTC per day in July to around 26,000, which is consistent with the normal bull market distribution rather than an “OG whale exodus.”
The broader context doesn’t help. The US government reopened after a record 43-day shutdown, the longest in US history, after President Trump approved a temporary funding measure on Wednesday night.
Under the bill, federal agencies receive funding only through Jan. 30, meaning uncertainty will continue to hang over markets even as operations slowly resume.
At press time, bitcoin price is trading at $95,670, remaining close to production cost levels and testing key technical support.
