Crypto Market Slump: What’s Driving the Downturn on June 23, 2025?
Crypto's bleeding—again. Here's why traders are sweating this June.
Whales Dumping or Just Another Tuesday?
No major hacks, no regulatory bombshells—just the usual suspects: profit-taking, leverage unwinds, and that one over-leveraged hedge fund blowing up (again).
Bitcoin Can't Catch a Break
Dominance dips below 40% as altcoins get crushed harder. Even 'institutional adoption' narratives can't save us from macro headwinds.
The Silver Lining?
Blood in the streets means fire-sale prices—for those who still believe in the 'digital gold' fairy tale. Meanwhile, traditional finance bros are smugly sipping lattes, muttering 'told you so.'
Crypto Winners & Losers
All the top 10 coins per market cap are down today.
fell by 0.7%, now trading at $101,924, nearing the psychologically relevant $100,000 mark. This is also the smallest decrease in this category.
Also,fell by 1%, changing hands at $2,251. This is the category’s second-smallest drop.
saw the highest decrease in this category of 2.6% to the price of $2.02.
Moreover, ten of the top 100 coins saw their prices increase in the same period. The best performer is, with the only double-digit increase of 11.6% to $3.06.
At the same time,fell the most, followed by. They’re down 3.9% and 3.8% to $2.12 and $2.75, respectively.
Speaking of XRP, Bloomberg analysts recently placed the odds of an XRP spot ETF approval at 95%.
The timing of these approvals/launches is more uncertain. Could be something we're talking about in the next month or two. Or it could be something that waits until October or later. Matter of when not if
For Bloomberg clients, the note can be read here: https://t.co/PBdquFWPVn
Meanwhile, recent geopolitical shocks triggered immediate market reactions. Investors began moving into traditional safe-haven assets like Gold and the US dollar.
Bitcoin sold off all day & made up more than half of its losses in the last 30 minutes.
Trump's announcement of direct US involvement in the Middle East marked the local bottom. pic.twitter.com/02Uxuqe21d
This Isn’t Over: Market Braces for Instability
Dr. Sean Dawson, Head of Research at decentralized onchain options AI-powered platform,, commented that the surge in short-term implied volatility (IV) confirms the market is bracing for more instability. Volatility markets are telling us this isn’t over.
“Amid mounting geopolitical pressure, we’re seeing classic risk-off behavior with falling prices, spiking volatility, and a pullback in upside positioning,” Dawson says.
At one point, BTC has pulled back from $104,300 to $100,300. At the same time, there was also spike in short-term implied volatility by 10% to 45%. This happened as traders began pricing in fresh risk.
Moreover, ETH plunged nearly 14% from $2,550 to $2,200, along with a 15-point jump in 7-day IV to 83%. This reflects increased downside hedging and uncertainty, Dawson says.
“Ethereum’s double-digit loss and volatility spike to 83% show just how fast risk can unravel when leverage is high,” he adds.
Without a clear de-escalation trigger, the company expects more cautious positioning and subdued momentum in the month ahead, the Head of Research notes.
Dawson notes that the BTC options market is currently “scaling back on optimism.” The probability of BTC ending 2025 above $200,000 has dropped to 3.5%. The chance of it surpassing $150,000 in that same period fell to 11%.
“Bulls are losing conviction as geopolitical risk and macro headwinds overshadow halving Optimism and ETF flows.”
At the same time, the likelihood of BTC closing below $80,000 remains unchanged at 20%.
All these percentages “show the options market leaning defensive. Traders aren’t betting big on upside right now.”
Levels & Events to Watch Next
At the time of writing, BTC trades at $101,924. At one point over the past day, the coin saw a sharp drop from the intraday high $102,739 and below the psychologically critical $100,000 mark to $98,467. It has recovered somewhat since.
Over the past 7 days, we have seen a decrease of 4.5% from the intraweek high of $108,771.
At the same time, ethereum is currently trading at $2,251. The price saw a daily high of $2,280, falling to $2,134, before rising slightly to the current price. Over the past week, ETH fell 13.7% from the weekly high of $2,671.
Moreover, the crypto market sentiment has entered fear territory. The Fear and Greed Index has dropped from 48 on Friday and 40 on Sunday to the current 37. Now, fear is driving the prices potentially pushing them lower. But it can also present a chance to buy the dip.
Meanwhile, on 20 June, US BTC spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) until later today saw only $6.37 million in inflows. Whilesaw an inflow of $46.91 million,recorded an outflow of $40.55 million.
On the same day, US ETH ETFs saw outflows of $11.34 million, breaking another streak. BlackRock leads this amount with a loss of $19.71 million, whileandtook in $6.6 million and 1.77 million, respectively.
Tokyo-listed investment firmfor $118.2 million, amid the price dip. The company now holds 11,111 BTC on its balance sheet, valued at over $1.07 billion.
On the other hand, Cathie Wood’sworth ofshares on Friday.
Here are the current top 15 largest holdings in Cathie Wood and Ark Invest's $ARKK ETF
Tesla $TSLA – 10.15%
Coinbase $COIN – 8.31%
Circle $CRCL – 7.84% pic.twitter.com/SBQcYUqIip
Quick FAQ
The crypto market has seen a significant drop in a day, while the stock markets saw a mixed picture on their last day of trading. Thewent down by 0.22%, thedecreased by 0.43%, and therose by 0.083%. Investors were on edge over the Israel-Iran war and the US’s potential role. They were then surprised by the US attacks on Iran on Saturday, and this is bound to reflect on the stock market.
Given the current geopolitical and economic developments, the prices may decrease further. Bitcoin may fall below $100,000 and ETH below $2,100.
