Bitcoin edged higher on Tuesday after briefly breaking below the $90,000 mark, a level not seen in seven months, as investors grappled with rising risk aversion across global markets.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency has now erased all gains accumulated earlier this year and trades nearly 26% below its October high of more than $126,000. After touching an intraday low of $89,286, Bitcoin last traded around $93,532, up roughly 1.9%.
Market analysts say the pressure is unlikely to ease immediately.
“Short-term downside concerns remain justified, and momentum still points lower,” said Jean-David Pequignot, chief commercial officer at Deribit. “However, historically, extreme setups like this have often benefited contrarian buyers.”
$1.2 Trillion Wiped Out in Six Weeks
According to CoinGecko, nearly $1.2 trillion has been erased from the total crypto market value in the past six weeks, reflecting broad-based selling driven by macro uncertainty and a shift away from risk assets.
Traders say fading expectations of aggressive U.S. rate cuts and recent volatility across equities have contributed to the pullback.
“The market is seeing a cascade effect as institutions unwind positions they built during the rally, increasing contagion risks,” said Joshua Chu, co-chair of the Hong Kong Web3 Association. “When broader sentiment weakens, confidence can disappear quickly.”
ETF Outflows Add to Pressure
A major drag on sentiment has been persistent outflows from U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs. Since Oct. 10—when equity markets sank amid U.S.–China tariff worries—around $3.7 billion has exited these products. Nearly $2.3 billion of that has flowed out in November alone, as per Morningstar data.
Joseph Edwards of Enigma Securities said the pullback reflects fragility on the buy side. “A lot of retail traders were hit in last month’s flash crash, so the market is absorbing selling at a vulnerable moment,” he said, referring to the $19 billion in leveraged liquidations during the October rout.
Crypto-Linked Stocks Also Hit
Shares of crypto-exposed firms—including treasury-holder Strategy, miner Marathon Holdings, and exchange Coinbase—fell sharply earlier in the session but later rebounded alongside Bitcoin.
Public companies have increasingly positioned themselves as crypto-proxies by adding tokens to their balance sheets this year. But Standard Chartered warns that a sustained drop below $90,000 could push roughly half of these holdings underwater, meaning below their purchase price.
The bank estimates that listed firms collectively hold about 4% of all circulating Bitcoin and 3.1% of Ether.
MicroStrategy-style treasury company Strategy has continued to accumulate tokens. Founder Michael Saylor said the firm bought 8,178 Bitcoin on Monday, taking total holdings to 649,870 coins at an average price of roughly $74,433.
Ether Under Pressure
Ether has also suffered in recent months, losing nearly 40% of its value since its August peak above $4,955 as sentiment weakens across the crypto ecosystem.
