Bitcoin Slides To 3-Month Low Dragging Crypto Market Cap By 10% Amid Mounting Macroeconomic Pressures, Risk Averse Sentiment

Other major cryptocurrencies also declined, with XRP and Solana leading losses among the top 10 by market cap, each falling 13%.

Bitcoin (BTC) tumbled more than 8% on Tuesday, briefly falling to $86,314 – its lowest level in three months – amid a broader market selloff and renewed risk aversion.

This marks the cryptocurrency’s lowest point this year and a three-month low.

The broader crypto market lost nearly 10% of its total capitalization in the last 24 hours, according to CoinGecko.

The cryptocurrency's decline coincided with losses in technology stocks, as Nasdaq futures pointed lower, and strength in the Japanese yen raised concerns that investors may be shifting toward safer assets. 

With the risk-on mode activated, crypto ETPs saw $508 million in outflows over the past week, following $415 million in outflows the previous week, according to a CoinShares report.

Over the last two weeks, net outflows have reached $924 million, marking a sharp reversal after 18 straight weeks of inflows totaling $29 billion.

The crypto market has been volatile since President Donald Trump’s return to office, with geopolitical uncertainty rising amid renewed tariff threats. Meanwhile, investor confidence took another hit following the $1.46 billion Bybit hack.

Moreover, the latest downturn in Bitcoin mirrors a similar episode from last August, when a strengthening Japanese yen triggered a wave of risk aversion across global markets. 

The yen, which has gained nearly 6% against the U.S. dollar in six weeks, traded at 149.38 per USD on Tuesday. Investors appear to be positioning for a potential interest rate hike by the Bank of Japan, which could further dampen appetite for speculative assets like cryptocurrencies.

The Nasdaq Composite, which is heavily weighted toward tech stocks, slipped another 0.3% on Tuesday and has fallen about 4% since Feb. 18. Bitcoin has often traded in tandem with the Nasdaq, reflecting its sensitivity to shifts in risk sentiment.

In August last year, much like the current downturn, BTC saw a sharp selloff, with Bitcoin’s price tumbling from $65,000 to $50,000 in a matter of days as investors shifted towards safer assets.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around Bitcoin dug deeper into the ‘bearish’ territory as chatter picked up. 

One user commented that the markets were better under former President Joe Biden than under the current administration.

Another pointed to bearish technicals, forecasting a downturn if Bitcoin slipped below $89,000.

Bitcoin's slide has weighed on related stocks, with Bitcoin miners such as Bitfarms (BIT) dropping 8% and MicroStrategy (MSTR), a major Bitcoin proxy, sliding more than 6%. 

Other major cryptocurrencies also took a hit, with XRP and Solana (SOL) leading losses among the top 10 by market cap, each falling 13%.

Meanwhile, tokens within Solana’s Pump.fun ecosystem saw the sharpest decline among crypto categories tracked by CoinGecko, plunging 32.7%.

Bitcoin’s recent losses follow a strong rally earlier this year, with the cryptocurrency briefly surpassing $108,000 in January. 

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.<