Bitcoin fell sharply on Thursday, extending losses as pressure across global markets weighed on risk assets and triggered heavy selling in cryptocurrencies.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency dropped to an intraday low of $63,295.74, its weakest level since October 2024. It was last trading at $63,525, down 12.6 percent on the day, marking its steepest one-day decline since November 2022.
Data from CoinGlass showed that around $1 billion worth of bitcoin positions were liquidated over the past 24 hours as prices moved lower.
The decline in bitcoin has contributed to a broader fall in the digital asset market. According to CoinGecko, total crypto market value has dropped by $2 trillion since peaking at $4.379 trillion in early October. Nearly $800 billion of that loss has occurred over the past month.
Bitcoin has now fallen 17 percent this week, taking its year-to-date losses to 28 percent. Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market value, fell more than 13 percent to $1,854 late Thursday. Ether has declined 19 percent this week and is down nearly 38 percent so far this year.
Market sentiment has been affected by volatility across asset classes. Precious metals saw sharp moves, with gold and silver affected by leveraged trades and speculative flows. Silver dropped as much as 18 percent to a low of $72.21.
Equity markets also came under pressure. The S&P 500 slid to a seven-week low, while the Nasdaq fell to its lowest level in more than two months as technology stocks declined and investor focus on artificial intelligence weakened.
“It’s clear the crypto market is now in full capitulation mode,” said Nic Puckrin, investment analyst and co-founder of Coin Bureau. “If previous cycles are anything to go by, this is no longer a short-term correction, but rather a transition from distribution to reset and these typically take months, not weeks.”
The selloff has also weighed on shares of companies holding bitcoin and other digital assets, raising concerns that market stress is spreading beyond cryptocurrencies.
Analysts said political developments in the United States have added to pressure on digital assets. Donald Trump’s selection of Kevin Warsh as his pick for Federal Reserve chair has raised expectations of tighter monetary conditions.
“The market fears a hawk with him,” said Manuel Villegas Franceschi from the next generation research team at Julius Baer. “A smaller balance sheet is not going to provide any tailwinds for crypto.”
Deutsche Bank analysts said ongoing withdrawals from institutional exchange-traded funds have added to selling pressure. In a note to clients, they said US spot bitcoin ETFs recorded outflows of more than $3 billion in January, following outflows of about $2 billion in December and $7 billion in November.
“This steady selling in our view signals that traditional investors are losing interest, and overall pessimism about crypto is growing,” the analysts said.
Bitcoin has remained closely linked to the broader technology sector, and recent losses in global software stocks have accelerated declines across digital tokens.
“Concerns are being raised around the crypto miners and whether we could be looking at forced liquidations if prices continue to fall, which could lead to a vicious cycle,” Jefferies strategist Mohit Kumar said in a note.
