Bitcoin fell nearly 8% during the session, dropping below 73,000, erasing the gains since Trump's election

Bitcoin fell to its lowest point since Trump's return to the White House on Tuesday, completely erasing the gains accumulated since Donald Trump was elected President of the United States. Although the Trump administration has shown a friendly stance towards cryptocurrencies and institutional adoption has surged, Bitcoin has dropped over 40% since reaching its all-time high in October 2025. According to CoinMarketCap, during the midday trading session on February 3rd, U.S. stocks saw a widespread decline in cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin briefly fell below $73,000, dropping over $6,000 from its intraday high of over $79,100 in the Asian market, a decline of nearly 8%, marking a new low since Trump's victory in early November 2024. Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization after Bitcoin, experienced an even sharper decline, falling below $2,110 during the midday trading session, a new low since May 2025, down slightly over 10% from its intraday high of over $2,350 in the Asian market. Although Bitcoin quickly rebounded above $74,000 afterward, it has accumulated a decline of over 15% since the beginning of 2026. Investor concerns about economic headwinds continue to rise, with the stock market struggling to rebound amid low risk appetite and worries about an AI bubble, causing cryptocurrency market sentiment to plummet. Augustine Fan, a partner at Hong Kong cryptocurrency options platform SignalPlus, stated, "Cryptocurrency sentiment is hitting rock bottom, and the market is trading in a bear market mode." Leverage Liquidations Intensify Selling Pressure On Tuesday, Bitcoin fell below the year-to-date low of $74,500 set on April 7, 2025, when Trump's announced so-called reciprocal tariff plan impacted global financial markets. Bohan Jiang, a senior derivatives trader at FalconX, stated, "Many traders are trying to bottom-fish, betting on a rebound above $80,000. As Bitcoin continues to decline, a large number of positions are being liquidated, putting pressure on prices." The cryptocurrency market has faced ongoing downward pressure since the sell-off in October 2025. Additional comments made by Trump regarding tariffs triggered a severe liquidation wave, wiping out $19 billion in leveraged token bets, and the broader cryptocurrency market has yet to recover from it. Aside from the price volatility in April, Bitcoin had previously maintained above the $75,000 level reached the day after Trump's re-election. Institutions Hold Firm but Retail Investors Withdraw While some institutional holders remain steadfast, retail participation has declined as major long-term Bitcoin holders sell off billions of dollars in assets. The so-called altcoins have significantly underperformed compared to Bitcoin and Ethereum. The MarketVector Digital Assets 100 Small-Cap Index, which tracks the 50 smallest market-cap digital assets among 100, has plummeted nearly 70% over the past year Since Bitcoin and Ethereum received approval for exchange-traded products in the United States and attracted institutional funds, other cryptocurrencies have continued to underperform. However, these assets' spot ETFs—of which a large portion is held by retail investors—experienced billions of dollars in outflows in November. Trader Morten Christensen, who operates AirdropAlert.com, stated, "Bitcoin is still traded like a high-beta risk asset rather than digital gold. This does not mean the argument is dead—it just means it has not yet materialized." The Crypto Winter May Be Coming to an End Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer of digital asset management firm Bitwise, believes that the cryptocurrency market has been in a full-blown winter since January 2025, similar to past bear markets in 2018 and 2022. In a report on Monday, he stated, "This is not a 'bull market pullback' or a 'short-term retracement.' This is a full-blown, 2022-style crypto winter." However, Hougan pointed out that this bear market may be nearing its end. He noted that down cycles typically last about 13 months. If the bear market's starting point is set in January 2025 rather than October 2024, cryptocurrencies could bottom out within weeks. He wrote, "As someone who has experienced multiple crypto winters, I can tell you that the ends of those winters feel a lot like now: desperate, frantic, and listless."