Bitcoin Falls Below $101,000—Here’s Why Crypto Prices May Be Dropping

Topline

Bitcoin prices dropped below $101,000 to a five-month low on Tuesday, headlining a broader decline for the crypto market over the last month as investors appeared to pull away from riskier assets while the Federal Reserve cautiously approaches interest rate cuts.

The leading cryptocurrency has pared back historical gains in recent weeks.

Getty Images

Key Facts

The price of bitcoin decreased 6% over the last day to around $100,980, matching levels not seen since June, when the cryptocurrency last priced under $100,000.

Bitcoin (down 12.4%) has led a broader decline for crypto prices over the last seven days: Ethereum prices have dropped 18%, XRP fell 16.9%, BNB is down 19.2%, Solana has fallen 22.5% and the meme token dogecoin has cut 21.6%.

Bitcoin topped out at a new record high above $126,000 on Oct. 6, before prices declined nearly 11% in the lead-up to the Federal Reserve’s decision to cut interest rates by a further quarter-point last week, though Fed Chair Jerome Powell suggested an additional reduction to rates isn’t guaranteed in December.

Higher cryptocurrency prices tend to coincide with the Fed opting for lower interest rates, as the price of bitcoin surged during the pandemic as rates fell, rising from $5,000 in March 2020 to around $69,000 by November 2021, and when the Fed opted for rate hikes in 2018, the value of bitcoin fell from around $20,000 to roughly $3,000.

Fed Governor Lisa Cook said Monday she was undecided on a rate cut for December, and it’s unclear whether other central bank officials would favor holding interest rates at their current range, other than Kansas City Fed President Jeffrey Schmid, who voted last week to not lower rates at all.

Surprising Fact

Bitcoin prices decreased 3.7% in October, the worst performance by the cryptocurrency in the month over the last decade, according to CoinMarketCap data.

Big Number

About $840 billion. That’s how much was cut from the global crypto market’s aggregate market value over the last month, falling from $4.21 trillion on Oct. 5 to $3.36 trillion on Tuesday, according to CoinMarketCap.

Key Background

Bitcoin prices surged to several fresh records this year, as the Trump administration has backed legislation to ease regulatory burdens on the crypto market. The token surpassed the $110,000 and $120,000 thresholds within a two-month stretch, building on a meteoric rise as several companies said they would invest in bitcoin, including President Donald Trump’s Trump Media and Technology Group, which announced a $2.5 billion plan to set up a corporate bitcoin reserve. The U.S. has similarly built up its own bitcoin reserve, with the federal government’s stockpile totaling between $15 billion and $20 billion in assets as of August, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Bitcoin appeared to emerge as a safe haven asset throughout the federal government shutdown, rising to its latest record alongside rallying gold, silver and platinum prices.