Bitcoin billboard in Times Square, New York, USA, Tuesday, December 9, 2025.
Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Bitcoin approached the $72,000 level on Wednesday, marking the second consecutive day of major declines this week.
The world’s oldest cryptocurrency plunged more than 5% on the day, dropping to $72,096.20. The stock’s last trading price on the day was $72,958.38, down about 4%. Bitcoin is currently down more than 40% from its all-time high of around $126,000 in October last year.
Bitcoin in the past day (by coinmetrics)
Bitcoin breached the $73,000 milestone for the first time on Tuesday, its lowest price in nearly 16 months and closer to its pre-election value. Analysts say $70,000 is a key level to watch as the downturn deepens for digital assets, according to a Citi client note dated Tuesday.
The value of the token has been hemorrhaging as a result of several geopolitical and economic challenges, particularly headwinds.
The main reason for this is investors’ recent shift away from risk-on assets due to heightened tensions between the United States and Europe over President Donald Trump’s Greenland strategy and the recent end of a partial government shutdown that delayed the release of some key economic data. It’s also driven by expectations for a shift in U.S. monetary policy following Trump’s appointment of Kevin Warsh as Fed chairman late last month, as well as slowing efforts to create more crypto-friendly regulations and legislative guardrails in the U.S.
According to a recent analyst note from Deutsche Bank, massive outflows from institutional investors due to expectations of a deeper correction in Bitcoin are also reducing Bitcoin’s liquidity and pushing its price down.
Analysts noted that large amounts of money have been flowing out of the Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund since a series of liquidations of highly leveraged digital asset positions last October. These funds recorded outflows of more than $3 billion in January, about $2 billion in December last year, and about $7 billion in November last year.
Bitcoin’s decline has hurt several crypto stocks. Bitcoin treasury firm Strategy also fell 5% on the day, while digital asset mining stocks such as Riot Platforms and MARA Holdings fell almost 11%.