Bitcoin has wiped out all of its gains for the year as optimism around the Trump administration’s pro-crypto stance fades.
The cryptocurrency dropped below $93,714 on Sunday before trimming losses to trade at $94,869 as of 8:39 a.m. Monday in Singapore. The pullback marks the erasure of more than a 30% year-to-date gain, just weeks after Bitcoin hit a record high.
After reaching an all-time peak of $126,251 on Oct. 6, Bitcoin began sliding four days later when unexpected tariff remarks from President Donald Trump sparked a global market sell-off. The current price has dipped below last year’s closing level, set when markets were rallying following Trump’s election victory.
Institutional investors—once the key driver of Bitcoin’s momentum—have largely stepped back from the market in recent weeks. Major buyers such as ETF managers and corporate treasuries have paused allocations, draining the flow-based support that had helped push the token to historic highs earlier this year. Meanwhile, a pullback in high-growth technology stocks has weakened overall investor appetite for risk.
Through most of the year, institutional inflows underpinned Bitcoin’s legitimacy and price resilience. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted more than $25 billion, lifting total assets to roughly $169 billion. That steady demand had helped position Bitcoin as a potential hedge against inflation, monetary instability, and political uncertainty. But that narrative is weakening, leaving the market vulnerable to a quieter yet equally destabilizing force: investor disengagement.
Bitcoin’s price history remains characterized by dramatic boom-and-bust cycles. After skyrocketing more than 13,000% in 2017, it plunged nearly 75% the following year. This year has been no different. The token fell to $74,400 in April following Trump’s tariff announcements, then rebounded to new records before the latest downturn. Another sharp drop came on Oct. 10 after an unexpected tariff announcement triggered record liquidations.
Smaller, less liquid cryptocurrencies have been hit even harder. A MarketVector index tracking the lower half of the 100 largest digital assets has tumbled about 60% this year, underscoring the severity of the current crypto market downturn.
