Bitcoin is stabilizing slightly today after one of its most punishing weeks in years, but the damage across crypto markets has already been done.
The bitcoin price fell below $80,000 over the weekend for the first time since April 2025, briefly plunging to lows near $75,000 amid cascading liquidations and a broader sell-off across global risk assets.
As of early Monday, BTC was trading around $78,400, up about 1% on the day, according to Bitcoin Magazine data, after shedding roughly 12% over the past seven days.
That decline has erased more than $200 billion from bitcoin’s market capitalization, capping a brutal stretch that saw the asset lose roughly $800 billion in value since peaking above $126,000 in October.
Market participants point to a convergence of macroeconomic stress, geopolitical risk and structural fragility in crypto markets as the primary drivers of the sell-off.
Bitcoin’s drop coincided with a sharp “risk-off” move across global markets. U.S. equities slid late last week, led by steep losses in technology stocks after Microsoft’s earnings disappointed investors. That weakness spilled into European and Asian markets on Monday, while traditional safe havens also came under pressure.
Gold and silver both suffered historic losses, with silver posting its worst single-day decline since 1980. Analysts say the simultaneous sell-off in crypto and precious metals reflects a surging U.S. dollar and shifting expectations around U.S. monetary policy following the nomination of Kevin Warsh to succeed Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve chair.
Thin liquidity over the weekend exacerbated price swings, triggering a wave of forced liquidations across derivatives markets.
According to Coinglass, more than $2 billion worth of BTC long and short positions have been liquidated since Thursday, including $2.56 billion across all cryptocurrencies on Saturday alone — one of the largest single-day liquidation events on record.
Liquidations occur when leveraged traders are automatically forced out of positions as prices fall, creating a feedback loop of selling pressure that can accelerate declines.
Institutional investors have also been pulling back. Digital asset investment products recorded a second consecutive week of outflows totaling $1.7 billion, according to CoinShares, wiping out all year-to-date inflows and pushing 2026 flows into negative territory.
Bitcoin and Ethereum products led the withdrawals, while short BTC products and tokenized precious metals saw inflows, suggesting rising demand for downside protection.
Bitcoin whale activity
Earlier today, Binance confirmed it purchased 1,315 bitcoin, worth roughly $100 million, as part of a plan to convert its $1 billion Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU) reserve from stablecoins into BTC over the next 30 days.
Binance cofounder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao said he had lost confidence in a 2026 BTC “super cycle,” citing intense FUD, market turbulence, and accusations that Binance-related events contributed to a historic liquidation cascade.
Members of the crypto community accused CZ of selling BTC over the weekend and accused him of being responsible for the massive October 10, 2025 crypto crash that led to large crypto liquidations.
Corporate bitcoin holders have also come under scrutiny. Bitcoin’s brief dip below Strategy’s average purchase price put the company’s massive treasury holdings under pressure, though analysts say there is no risk of forced selling because the BTC is not pledged as collateral.
Bitcoin’s drop below Strategy’s $76,052 cost basis somewhat erased the psychological floor beneath Michael Saylor’s leveraged accumulation strategy, exposing growing strain as the firm’s stock trades far below its peak and its equity premium vanishes.
While there’s no immediate financial distress and no forced selling risk, tightening capital markets and fading investor appetite are shrinking Strategy’s ability to fund further Bitcoin purchases through share issuance.
At the time of writing, BTC is rebounding to around $78,380, up 1% over the past 24 hours, trading just below its seven-day high as market capitalization climbs to roughly $1.57 trillion.
Source: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/markets/bitcoin-is-coming-off-a-brutal-week
