The decline in global equity markets has also impacted cryptocurrencies, which are experiencing ongoing pressure in the challenging global macroeconomic environment. Bitcoin and Ethereum saw considerable declines in value over the past 48 hours as global risk sentiment weakened. Bitcoin has fallen below the $80,000 mark after having difficulty staying above $89,000, with the decline exacerbated by low liquidity during the weekend. In the latest weekly analysis, there has been a decline of nearly 7 per cent for one major cryptocurrency since late last week, while another has seen a drop of approximately 10 per cent, indicating one of the more significant short-term pullbacks in recent trading sessions. The sell-off followed the nomination of the hawkish Kevin Warsh as Federal Reserve Chair by US President Donald Trump, resulting in a historic $7 trillion decline in metals and a notable rally in the US dollar, which reduced risk appetite across different asset classes. The decline also aligned with a significant rise in geopolitical tensions.
“The decline coincides with a renewed escalation in geopolitical tensions, particularly intensified conflict between the U.S. and Iran.” This has unsettled global markets and triggered a broad risk-averse response. “In this environment, crypto assets have aligned with other risk-sensitive instruments, indicating a transition towards liquidity and conventional safe-haven assets,” stated Nischal Shetty. Major cryptocurrencies face a decline as market fluctuations intensify. Bitcoin saw a short decline, dropping under the $76,000 level to reach an intraday low of $75,815.88, but it recovered, trading above $78,900. At the latest update, the cryptocurrency was priced at 78,898.74, reflecting a decline of 6.06 percent in the last 24 hours, accompanied by trading volumes reaching 73.06 billion. During this timeframe, the cryptocurrency fluctuated significantly, with prices ranging from $75,815.88 to $84,107.95, as reported. Additionally, consider this: Bitcoin has now experienced a decline exceeding 37 percent from its peak of 126,198.07, which was recorded on October 7, 2025. Even with its market capitalisation falling to $1.57 trillion, it remains the largest cryptocurrency by market value.
As we look to the future, experts are highlighting the $74,500 mark as a pivotal zone for Bitcoin, which could serve as a basis for a trend reversal. “Current prices seem attractive for significant participants to take action in the market.” This development could enhance liquidity, helping BTC stabilize around the 85,500 mark. “However, if the bulls fail to defend this zone, we could see a deeper retracement before recovery,” stated Akshat Siddhant. Ethereum mirrored the broader market trend, falling below the $2,500 level to hit its lowest value since March 2025. At this time, Ethereum is down by 9.33 percent, with a current price of $2,445.34 and a 24-hour trading volume of $49.17 billion. The asset experienced fluctuations, trading within a range of $2,248.70 to $2,703.38 in the last 24 hours, as reported. Ethereum has seen a drop of more than 50 percent from its highest value of 4,953.73, which was achieved on August 25, 2025.
The downturn affected the broader altcoin market, with most major tokens observed trading in the red. River, Story, World Liberty Financial, Jupiter, Virtuals Protocol, Pudgy Penguins, Aptos, Worldcoin, Solana, Kaspa, Immutable, Stacks, Bonk, Filecoin, GateToken, Dash, Optimism, MemeCore, Zcash, Sui, NEAR Protocol, Pepe, Ethena, Arbitrum, Dogecoin, VeChain, and Injective have been identified as the top laggards, experiencing declines ranging from 9 percent to 33 percent. In contrast, Quant, Hyperliquid, and JUST defied the overall market movement, recording slight increases ranging from 0.8 percent to 1.7 percent, as reported. The leading cryptocurrencies making waves on CoinMarketCap are Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, XRP, Chainlink, Bulla, OFFICIAL TRUMP, Falcon Finance, Humanity Protocol, FIGHT, and Dogecoin.