Bitcoin extended its sell-off late Wednesday, sliding below $71,000 to its lowest level since October 2024.
The asset fell about 7.2% over the past 24 hours to roughly $70,894 as of 11:30 p.m. ET, while ethereum dropped 7.8% to about $2,091.
What drove the move
Vincent Liu, CIO at Kronos Research, said the decline accelerated after a failed bounce and a break of key support:
“BTC extended losses after a failed relief bounce lost key support.”
He pointed to long liquidations, spillover from a sharp U.S. tech sell-off, and continued ETF outflows as factors behind the downside pressure.
Broader markets and bitcoin-linked stocks
Analysts framed the drawdown as part of a wider risk-off move across asset classes rather than a bitcoin-specific shock.
Peter Chung, head of research at Presto Research, said:
“Current price action in bitcoin is following the broader risk-off in markets and other asset classes.”
Crypto-related equities also weakened, as Coinbase closed down 6.14% on Wednesday.
In traditional markets, the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.51% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.53%.
Sentiment and key levels
The Crypto Fear & Greed Index stood at 12, remaining in “extreme fear.”
Chung said:
“With broad risk-off pressure last night pushing BTC to a new low for the year, investor psychology has sunk to its weakest level since the last bear market.”
Liu said traders were watching whether bitcoin can hold the $70,000 level, with attention on signs of liquidation exhaustion and stabilization in ETF flows.
