Cryptocurrencies faced a sharp downturn on Friday as investors retreated from risk assets, pushing Bitcoin and Ether to multi-month lows. Concerns over elevated tech stock valuations and fading expectations for near-term Federal Reserve easing contributed to the selloff.

Bitcoin and Ether Slide

• Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, fell 2.1%, dropping below $86,000 to a seven-month low of $85,350.75 during Asian trading.
• Ether declined over 2%, reaching a four-month low of $2,777.39.

Both tokens were heading toward weekly losses of roughly 8%, signaling the market’s growing fragility. Cryptocurrencies often act as a barometer of investor risk appetite, and the sharp slide highlights heightened caution following volatility in tech stocks and a spike in the VIX volatility index.

“If it’s telling a story about risk sentiment as a whole, then things could start to get really, really ugly, and that’s the concern now,” said Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG.

Market Losses and ETF Impact

According to CoinGecko, approximately $1.2 trillion has been wiped off the total market value of all cryptocurrencies over the past six weeks.

Hong Kong-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs issued by China AMC, Harvest, and Bosera saw declines of nearly 7% each on Friday, reflecting the broader selloff across crypto-linked assets.

Context: From Record Highs to Selloff

The cryptocurrency market had enjoyed a remarkable run earlier in 2025, with Bitcoin reaching a record high above $120,000 in October, buoyed by favorable global regulatory changes.

However, the market remains scarred by a record crypto crash last month, which triggered more than $19 billion in liquidations of leveraged positions amid panic selling and low liquidity.

“The market feels a little bit dislocated, a bit fractured, a bit broken, really, since we had that selloff,” Sycamore added.

Year-to-date, Bitcoin has erased all gains and is now down 8%, while Ether has fallen nearly 16%.

Corporate Exposure to Crypto

The selloff has also affected corporate digital asset holdings, which had surged this year as companies added cryptocurrencies to their balance sheets.

• Shares of MicroStrategy (MSTR.O), a leading corporate Bitcoin holder, fell 11% for the week, hitting a one-year low.
• Japanese firm Metaplanet (3350.T) dropped about 80% from its June peak.

Digital asset research firm CryptoQuant noted in its weekly report:

“Bitcoin market conditions are the most bearish they have been since the current bull cycle started in January 2023. We are highly likely to have seen most of this cycle’s demand wave pass.”

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Key Takeaways

• Cryptocurrencies under pressure: Bitcoin and Ether hit multi-month lows amid broad risk-off sentiment.
• Market volatility: Tech stock declines and fading Fed easing bets amplified the selloff.
• Total market losses: $1.2 trillion wiped from crypto valuations in six weeks.
• Corporate crypto holdings hit: Shares of firms like MicroStrategy and Metaplanet fall sharply.
• Bearish sentiment: Analysts warn that the current cycle’s demand wave may have peaked.