Bitcoin Slides Below $80,000 as Profit-Taking Meets Weak Demand
Bitcoin dropped sharply on Saturday, falling as much as 10% to $75,709.88—its lowest level since April 2025—as early holders cashed in profits and fresh capital failed to enter the market. The decline has erased more than 30% of its peak value, while Ether and Solana also fell roughly 17%, showing broad weakness across major cryptocurrencies.
The selloff wiped around $111 billion from total crypto market capitalization in 24 hours, and $1.6 billion in leveraged positions were liquidated, mainly in Bitcoin and Ether, according to Coinglass. Analysts attribute the slide to thinning liquidity and muted buying interest.
Ki Young Ju, CEO of on-chain analytics firm CryptoQuant, noted that Bitcoin’s realized capitalization has largely flatlined, signaling that new money has stopped flowing in. “When market cap falls without realized cap growing, that’s not a bull market,” he said on X.
Early holders, bolstered by prior inflows from spot Bitcoin ETFs and Michael Saylor’s Strategy (MSTR), have been steadily taking profits. Strategy’s Bitcoin position is slightly underwater but poses no immediate financial stress. Despite macro support, including a weaker U.S. dollar and record-high gold prices, Bitcoin failed to rally. Ju expects the market to navigate a prolonged period of sideways trading rather than a sharp rebound, leaving no clear near-term bottom.
