TLDR
- Bitcoin fell to a 3-month low of $86,050, amid concerns over US equities, inflation, and dropping consumer confidence
- Over $1.59 billion has been liquidated from the crypto market in 24 hours
- Bitcoin ETFs saw near-record outflows of $1.01 billion on Tuesday
- Despite short-term drops, institutional adoption continues to grow with rising BTC balances among public companies
- Analysts encourage investors to zoom out and see Bitcoin’s post-halving performance as potentially bullish
Bitcoin’s price has fallen below the $90,000 mark, reaching a three-month low of $86,050. While this recent dip has caused concern among some investors, many analysts view this as a temporary pullback in a larger upward trend.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency has extended losses for four straight sessions, wiping approximately $8,000 from its price over the past week. The initial downturn was triggered by a $1.5 billion hack of popular exchange ByBit, which dented sentiment across the crypto market.
Beyond the hack, several macroeconomic factors have contributed to this price correction. Concerns over US equities performance, worrying inflation data, and a sharp drop in consumer confidence have pushed investors toward less risky assets in the short term.
Data from the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index showed growing pessimism among US consumers as the metric fell to 98.3 in February. This represents the largest monthly drop since August 2021, highlighting increasing worries about the US labor market and inflation.
Bitcoin’s decline aligns with overall market sentiment as US stocks face losses amid President Trump’s tariff announcements. On Tuesday, Trump raised the possibility of new tariffs on copper imports, after earlier stating that his 25% duties on Canada and Mexico will take effect next week.
The combination of tariff concerns and weak consumer sentiment has created a perfect storm for risk-averse moves across cryptocurrencies. Weak consumer sentiment points to softer private consumption, which is a major driver of the US economy.
US-listed Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have also seen massive capital outflows this week. Data from SoSoValue showed spot Bitcoin ETFs experienced an outflow of $1.01 billion on Tuesday—their biggest single-day outflow since March 2024, shortly after the launch of the spot ETFs.
Fidelity’s Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund and BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF saw the largest one-day outflows, of $344.7 million and $164.4 million, respectively. These outflows reflect profit-taking among institutional investors tracking Bitcoin’s price decline.
Signs Point to Buying Opportunity
Despite these short-term challenges, many crypto advocates encourage investors to look at the bigger picture. On the daily timeframe, Bitcoin’s relative strength index has fallen below 27, a level not seen since the August 5, 2024 crash, when BTC price fell to $49,000.
Historically, on Bitcoin’s longer timeframes, deeply oversold RSI conditions are rare and often turn out to be opportunities to buy at a discount. This technical indicator suggests that Bitcoin may be entering what some analysts call a “generational buying territory.”
Bitwise European head of research André Dragosch has encouraged patience, referencing a chart of BTC’s post-halving performance. The data suggests that the larger part of Bitcoin’s bull market rally has yet to occur, potentially pointing to higher prices in the coming months.
Patience… pic.twitter.com/6dhZEXYH5F
— André Dragosch, PhD | Bitcoin & Macro ⚡ (@Andre_Dragosch) February 25, 2025
Beyond the day-to-day price action, institutional adoption continues to increase. Bitcoin analyst Tuur Demeester highlighted the rising BTC balances among publicly listed companies as evidence of growing corporate interest in the cryptocurrency.
This institutional support was further demonstrated when Strategy, the world’s biggest corporate holder of Bitcoin, announced a purchase of $2 billion more coins despite the recent market downturn.
The broader cryptocurrency market has shown signs of stabilizing. Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, rose 0.5% to $2,492.69, while XRP increased 1.9% to $2.2923. Other major cryptocurrencies like Solana, Cardano, and Polygon rose between 2% and 5%.
Among memecoins, Dogecoin showed resilience with a 0.9% increase, while $TRUMP fell 0.5% and traded at record lows. These mixed results reflect the varying impact of market conditions on different cryptocurrency segments.
Over $1.59 billion has been liquidated from the total crypto market over the past 24 hours, showing the scale of the current correction. However, when viewed in the context of Bitcoin’s post-halving cycle, this pullback may represent a buying opportunity rather than a reason for panic.
Bitcoin has given up all gains made since Trump’s election victory in early November, but many analysts see this as a normal market correction rather than the start of a prolonged bear market.
For investors with a long-term perspective, the current price levels may offer an attractive entry point. As history has shown, Bitcoin tends to experience strong recoveries following periods of oversold conditions, particularly after halving events.
While short-term volatility remains a concern, the fundamental case for Bitcoin continues to strengthen through increasing institutional adoption and growing corporate holdings. As the market digests the current economic uncertainties, Bitcoin’s path may once again turn upward.
The most recent data shows Bitcoin trading at $88,706.9, still well below its all-time highs but showing resilience amidst challenging market conditions.
