bitcoin fell below $66,000 during early afternoon hours in the US, as this week’s cryptocurrency sell-off accelerated into a bloodbath on Thursday.
The largest cryptocurrency fell more than 10% in the last 24 hours to a session low of $65,156, according to data from CoinDesk, the weakest level since October 2024 and below the 2021 peak.
February 5 could be one of the worst days in bitcoin history. BTC is on track to suffer its biggest one-day drop (10.5% since midnight UTC at current prices) since Nov. 8, 2022, when the collapse of crypto exchange FTX sent BTC below $16,000 after a 14.3% drop on the day.
Cryptocurrencies were not the only asset class under relentless selling pressure. Silver also plunged 15% during the day and is now almost 40% below its all-time high from just a week ago. Gold also fell more than 2.8% to $4,820, but that sell-off wasn’t as bad as silver’s. The precious metal is now trading approximately 15% below its record high from last week.
Software stocks, which often move at the same pace as bitcoin, continued to sell off, with the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Thematic ETF (IGV) down more than 3% and 24% so far this year. The S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq also fell 1%.
Cryptocurrency stocks were not spared either. Coinbase (COIN), Galaxy (GLXY), Strategy MSTR), and BitMine (BMNR) fell more than 10%, while several crypto miners, including Bitfarms (BITF), CleanSpark (CLSK), Hut 8 (HUT), and Mara (MARA), suffered similar losses.
“A major factor is very low liquidity,” said Adrian Fritz, chief investment strategist at 21shares. “If there is a little bit of selling pressure, it usually triggers a lot of sell-offs.”
In a fragile market environment with only a few buy and sell orders to cushion trades, even modest sell-offs can trigger a large price reaction, which in turn triggers further sell-offs.
While some have been saying for weeks that the worst is over, Fritz believes otherwise.
“There are no signs yet that we have hit bottom. I think it is too early. There is no confirmed change,” he said.
He points to the 200-day moving average (currently between $58,000 and $60,000) as a key support level to watch. That level also aligns with bitcoin’s “realized price,” or the average cost basis of all bitcoin holders, which he believes could serve as strong multi-year support.
Read more: Bitcoin may still fall further. Historical data shows that $60,000 will be the minimum
Altcoins decimated
Bitcoin’s performance might seem minor compared to the brutal altcoin sell-off.
Almost all prices on the CoinDesk index, including major tokens and memecoins, are down more than 10% in the last 24 hours.
XRP, which fell 19% during the same 24-hour period, underperformed most other large-cap cryptocurrencies.
While Fritz said he believes there is no specific trigger putting additional pressure on the token, he said that “from a technical point of view, there are not many support levels for XRP.”
Read more: Here’s what industry veterans are saying as bitcoin falls below $70,000
