The cryptocurrency market is in "extreme fear," preparing for Bitcoin to drop to "80,000 USD."

Bitcoin is experiencing a free-fall decline, and traders are preparing for a larger-scale downturn.

On Monday, Bitcoin fell below $91,500, continuing its recent plunge. Options market data shows that traders' protective demand for downside levels such as $90,000, $85,000, and $80,000 has surged significantly, with the scale of put contracts betting on expiration at the end of November exceeding $740 million.

Chris Newhouse, research director at Ergonia, which focuses on decentralized finance, stated:

As buyers who accumulated positions over the past six months find themselves severely trapped, the conviction-based bullish demand is becoming increasingly weak.

The sentiment index compiled by data analysis platform CoinMarketCap shows that cryptocurrency participants are in a state of "extreme fear." The market is filled with investors who have lost too much to continue buying but are unwilling to cut losses.

"Crypto Treasury Companies" Under Pressure

The pain is concentrated in so-called digital asset "treasury companies."

These companies hoarded large amounts of cryptocurrency earlier this year, attempting to become crypto hoarding concept stocks in the stock market.

Although Michael Saylor's Strategy recently purchased $835 million worth of Bitcoin, many of his peers are facing increasing pressure to sell assets to protect their balance sheets.

Greg Magadini, director of derivatives at Amberdata, stated that this sell-off has created psychological pressure, noting:

Ethereum is very susceptible to this trend, as the largest digital asset treasury companies are currently in a state of loss.

The world's second-largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum, has fallen to $2,975, down 24% since the beginning of October, showing particularly weak performance.

Macroeconomic Factors Pressuring Risk Assets

Wider economic forces are also dragging down market sentiment. Federal Reserve policy expectations and discussions about the AI bubble have become the two major obstacles facing cryptocurrencies and risk assets before the end of the year.

Adam McCarthy, an analyst at research firm Kaiko, stated:

I believe that the Federal Reserve and AI bubble discussions are the two main obstacles facing cryptocurrencies and risk assets before the end of the year.

The cryptocurrency market has been turbulent since the severe liquidation wave in early October, when approximately $19 billion in cryptocurrency assets were wiped out. According to Coinglass data, open interest in cryptocurrency futures contracts has declined, particularly with smaller tokens like Solana seeing their holdings drop by more than half.

Thomas Perfumo, a global economist at cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, stated:

This risk-averse tone has spread to the cryptocurrency market, and sentiment remains fragile. This reflects broader macro anxiety rather than structural flaws