Bitcoin’s slide is deepening as renewed selling from dormant wallets, a sharp shift in macro expectations and increasingly defensive derivatives positioning weigh on sentiment, according to multiple trading desks and market data.
BTC has now fallen more than 7% in the past day and over 20% in the last month, a far steeper correction than in equities. Stocks have held up thanks to strong results from Nvidia, which helped counter fears that the AI trade may be overheating.
FlowDesk said in a Telegram update that the market continues to absorb a heavy stream of coins being sent to centralized exchanges from long-inactive bitcoin addresses. Tens of thousands of BTC have begun moving after years of dormancy, adding steady sell pressure that has outmatched demand. With managers focused on locking in performance rather than adding risk into year-end, liquidity at crucial support zones has thinned.
The firm also noted that derivatives activity echoes spot-market weakness. Traders have been buying downside exposure in BTC and ETH while rolling existing put positions to lower strikes, leaving volatility curves heavily skewed toward bearish protection.
Options data from Deribit tells the same story. CoinDesk previously reported that the market’s once-favored $140,000 call has now been overtaken by the $85,000 put, which has become the single largest open-interest strike in bitcoin options—clear evidence that traders are bracing for additional downside.
With bitcoin’s decline accelerating, attention is turning to MicroStrategy as the asset’s price approaches the company’s average purchase level of $74,430. JPMorgan said MicroStrategy’s stock has been under pressure amid growing concerns that it could be removed from the MSCI index in January, a move that might trigger billions in forced passive outflows and add fresh stress to an already fragile crypto environment.
