Bitcoin price plunged to $98,000 as long-term holders sold at record levels, institutional demand weakened, and broader market fatigue set in amid a fragile post-shutdown U.S. economy.
Bitcoin price fell sharply today, sliding from an intraday high of $104,000 to $98,113, wiping out earlier gains and marking a decisive breakdown in price action.
Starting in morning trading, the Bitcoin price consistently bled down from the upper $102,000s to lows of $97,870.
According to Bitcoin Magazine Pro data, the last time Bitcoin price was near these levels (sub $98,000) was in early May — roughly May 8 depending on time zone. Bitcoin price vaulted above $100,000 for over 40 days after that before dipping back to $98,000 in late June.
One possible reason why the bitcoin price is long-term holders that are unloading at record levels. Data from CryptoQuant shows they’ve sold about 815,000 BTC in 30 days — the most since early 2024 — while spot and ETF demand weaken. Profit-taking dominates, with $3 billion in realized gains on Nov. 7 alone.
Institutional buying has also dropped below daily mining supply, intensifying sell pressure. Prices hover near the crucial 365-day moving average around $102,000, and failure to hold it could trigger deeper losses, according to Bitcoin Magazine Pro analysis.
Analysts at Bitfinex say the current bitcoin pullback mirrors past mid-cycle retracements, with the drop from October’s high matching the typical 22% drawdown seen throughout the 2023–2025 bull market.
“It is important to note too, that even at the $100,000 level, approximately 72 percent of the total BTC supply remains in profit,” Bitfinex analysts wrote to Bitcoin Magazine. They believe a short relief rally is likely but that a sustained recovery will require fresh demand.
According to The Block, JPMorgan analysts say bitcoin price’s current estimated production cost of $94,000 acts as a historical price floor, suggesting limited downside.
The analysts believe that rising network difficulty has pushed production costs higher, keeping bitcoin’s price-to-cost ratio near historical lows. The analysts maintain a bold 6–12 month upside projection of about $170,000.
All this comes as the U.S. government has reopened after a record 43-day shutdown, the longest in history, following President Trump’s signing of a funding bill late Wednesday.
While federal operations are resuming, recovery will be slow. Federal workers still await backpay, and air travel delays may persist.
Timot Lamarre, director of market research at Unchained, described bitcoin to Bitcoin Magazine as a “canary-in-the-coal-mine for liquidity drying up in the market.” He notes that the recent government shutdown caused the Treasury General Account to swell, absorbing liquidity, and adds that with the government reopening, “more liquidity injected into the system will benefit bitcoin’s dollar price in the near term.”
Agencies like the IRS face major backlogs, and national parks struggle to recover lost revenue. The short-term funding measure only extends through January 30, leaving the threat of another shutdown looming.
The return to normalcy will take time as the effects of the prolonged closure continue to ripple through the economy and public services.
Bitcoin price roared into October as the government shutdown began, surging to new all-time highs above $126,000. But the excitement quickly gave way to turbulence — the bitcoin price swung wildly through the rest of October and into November.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin’s price is at $98,470.
Despite an overall bullish mood in the market, the bitcoin price has continued to slide deeper into the month.
Bitcoin is still closely tied to the Nasdaq, but it’s showing an unusual pattern: it reacts more strongly to stock market drops than it does to gains, according to a recent report from Wintermute.
This “negative skew”—falling harder on bad equity days than rising on good ones—is typically seen in bear markets, not when BTC is near all-time highs. It suggests that investors are somewhat fatigued, not euphoric.
Two main factors are driving this. First, attention and capital have shifted toward equities in 2025. Big tech and Nasdaq growth stocks are soaking up much of the risk appetite that might have flowed into crypto. Bitcoin moves with the market when things go wrong but doesn’t get the same lift when optimism returns, acting like a high-beta tail of macro risk.
Second, liquidity in crypto is thinner than before. Stablecoin issuance has stalled, ETF inflows have slowed, and exchange depth hasn’t fully recovered. This makes downside moves more pronounced and widens the performance gap.
That said, BTC is holding up remarkably well, according to Wintermute. Even with this persistent downside bias, it’s less than 20% below its all-time high. The pattern is unusual near tops — it usually shows up near bottoms — but it also reflects Bitcoin’s growing maturity as a macro asset.
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