Crypto Bloodbath: Bitcoin Plunges to $86K - What’s Driving Today’s Market Carnage?
Digital assets face brutal selloff as market sentiment turns sour
The crypto market is getting hammered today in a widespread downturn that's wiping billions from market caps across the board. Bitcoin leads the charge downward, collapsing to $86,000 and dragging the entire ecosystem with it.
Market-wide pressure builds
Every major cryptocurrency is feeling the heat as traders rush for exits. The sudden drop follows weeks of consolidation that had many investors expecting another leg up—showing once again that crypto markets love to disappoint the maximum number of people simultaneously.
Technical breakdown accelerates selling
Key support levels shattered across multiple timeframes, triggering automated sell orders and margin liquidations. The cascade effect demonstrates how interconnected the crypto space remains—when Bitcoin sneezes, the whole market catches pneumonia.
Institutional money sits on sidelines
While retail investors panic-sell, major funds appear content to watch the fireworks from a safe distance. Another reminder that Wall Street's 'when' is different from Main Street's 'now'—they'll buy when you're too demoralized to care anymore.
Long-term holders stay the course
Despite the bloodshed, veteran crypto investors recognize these corrections as healthy market mechanics. The digital asset space has weathered far worse storms—and emerged stronger each time. Today's pain sets up tomorrow's gains for those with the stomach to hold through the volatility.
Bitcoin and Ethereum Slide to New Lows
Bitcoin took a sharp hit, falling more than 7% to around $85,700, which is its lowest point in seven months. ethereum price dropped about 7.5%, sliding to $2,800.
Bitcoin is now down 32%, and ethereum is down a heavy 44% from their yearly highs, this is concerning for investors.
Other altcoins also saw major lows:
XRP Price Drops below $2 at $1.96 with a decrease of 7.80% in a day.
BNB Price is at $853 down by 5.76% in the last 24 hours.
Solana Price at $132.45 down by 7.90% in a day.
Source: CMC
This fall has dragged the entire market with it. Almost $1.25 trillion in value has been wiped out in just a few weeks. The overall crypto market cap has dropped below $3 trillion, far from the $4.2 trillion level we saw not long ago.
US Jobs Data Shocks the Market
The biggest reason behind today’s sell-off is surprising economic news from the United States. The unemployment rate jumped to 4.4%, the highest level in four years. At the same time, the U.S. added 119,000 new jobs, which was far more than expected.
This confusing mix raised fears about what the Federal Reserve may do next. Traders had been hoping for a Fed rate cut in December. But with these new numbers, the chances of a cut fell sharply from almost 93% last month to just 35.5% now.
When traders believe rates won’t drop soon, risky assets like cigital currency usually fall hard. That’s exactly what happened, and it fueled the Crypto Market Down sentiment across Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other tokens.
Nearly $1 Billion in Liquidations Hit Traders
The drop got even worse when large liquidations began spreading through. In the last 24 hours, more than 249,000 traders saw their positions closed.
Total crypto liquidations crossed $946 million, the highest in many weeks. The biggest single liquidation was worth $30.91 million in the BTC-USDT pair on HTX.
Source: Coinglass
Bitcoin saw heavy outflows of $547 million, while Ethereum recorded about $139 million.
When BTC lost its $88,000–$90,000 support range, the chart shows strong selling pressure, with RSI at 24 and MACD deeply bearish.
ETH fell below $3,000, even more forced selling kicked in.
Stock Market Crash Adds More Stress
The U.S. stock market also had a terrible day. The S&P 500 saw a massive $2.7 trillion wipeout, its worst day in months. Because digital currencies has become more linked to tech stocks, Bitcoin moved almost in sync with the Nasdaq.
That strong correlation made the crypto market crashing situation even harder to avoid. When stocks fall, cryptocurrencies often follows.
What Happens Next?
Analysts say Bitcoin price needs to hold $85,000 or it could slip further toward $75,000, which was last touched in April 2025. Ethereum also looks weak below $3,000, and the next strong support seems to be around $2,500.
For now, the overall sentiment is bearish, and confidence is shaky. But crypto has bounced back from worse conditions in the past. Traders just hope this storm settles before it becomes something bigger.
