(Dec 1): Cryptocurrencies fell sharply on Monday, bringing fresh momentum to a wide-ranging sell-off that appeared to have settled.
Bitcoin slid as much as 6% to below US$86,000 ($111,400) in early Asia trading, while ether dropped more than 7% to about US$2,800, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Most tokens followed a similar pattern, with solana falling 7.8%. Bitcoin later retraced some of its losses and was trading at around US$86,788 at 10am in London.
The crypto market is on shaky ground after a weeks-long sell-off that began when some US$19 billion in levered bets were wiped out in early October, just days after bitcoin set an all-time high of US$126,251. The original cryptocurrency shed 16.7% of its value in November, but a let-up in the selling pressure saw it regain ground last week, rising to above US$90,000.
After the latest bout of selling on Monday, traders are bracing for bigger moves lower.
“It’s a risk off start to December,” said Sean McNulty, Apac derivatives trading lead at FalconX. “The biggest concern is the meagre inflows into bitcoin exchange traded funds and absence of dip buyers. We expect the structural headwinds to continue this month. We are watching US$80,000 on bitcoin as the next key support level.”
See also: The 26-minute, 51% wipeout that deepened Trump family's crypto woes
Digital assets also felt the broader macro shifts rippling through global markets. Asian equities fluctuated in early trading after capping their best weekly advance in about two months, while S&P 500 futures edged lower. Japanese stocks fell and the yen rose as Bank of Japan governor Kazuo Ueda sent the clearest hint yet of a rate hike this month.
“At the macro level, rising Japanese government bond yields added further downside pressure, as investors assessed the potential acceleration of the yen carry-trade unwind, a dynamic that historically weighs on global risk assets, including crypto,” said Jeff Ko, chief analyst at CoinEx.
The week ahead is set to offer a crucial snapshot of US economic momentum as policymakers weigh the trajectory of interest rates heading into 2026. Data is likely to shape expectations for whether the Federal Reserve continues its rate-cutting cycle. US President Donald Trump on Sunday said he had decided on his pick for the next Fed chair, after making clear he expects his nominee to deliver interest-rate cuts.
See also: Bitcoin hits two-week high but crypto sentiment remains fragile
Investors were also digesting comments from Strategy Inc chief executive officer Phong Le, who said on a podcast on Friday that the bitcoin-buyer could sell the token if its mNAV — a ratio of enterprise value to bitcoin holdings — turned negative. “We can sell bitcoin and we would sell bitcoin if we needed to fund our dividend payments below 1x mNAV,” he said, adding that it would be a last resort. Strategy, which has a US$56 billion bitcoin stockpile, has seen its mNAV tumble to 1.19, according to its website.
Meanwhile, S&P Global Ratings last week downgraded an assessment of the stability of USDT, the world’s largest stablecoin, to its lowest rating, warning that a drop in bitcoin’s value could leave the token undercollateralised. Further uncertainty came from the People’s Bank of China, which on Saturday issued a warning about the risks of virtual currencies including stablecoins, adding that government agencies should deepen coordination to crack down on illegal activities.
CoinEx’s Ko said that “a series of bearish developments over the weekend,” including the USDT downgrade and PBOC warning, had renewed the pressure on cryptocurrencies.
Uploaded by Magessan Varatharaja
