Bitcoin has been encountering weakness lately.
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Bitcoin prices extended their recent losses Monday, December 15, approaching $85,000 as the world’s most prominent digital currency struggled with notable headwinds.
The cryptocurrency dropped to roughly $85,130.00, according to Coinbase data from TradingView. At this point, it had plunged more than 30% from the all-time high of more than $126,300 that it reached in October.
When explaining these latest declines, analysts highlighted several factors, including significant macro developments that have provided bitcoin with headwinds. Some market observers emphasized the expectations surrounding Federal Reserve monetary policy, a development that can significantly impact the value of risk assets.
“The latest pullback toward $85,000 looks driven by a mix of macro pressure and positioning,” said Joe DiPasquale, CEO of cryptocurrency hedge fund manager BitBull Capital. “Risk assets broadly sold off as rate-cut expectations were pushed out, while bitcoin also saw profit-taking after failing to hold recent support levels,” he added.
“Once BTC slipped below key technical zones, leveraged longs were flushed out, accelerating the downside move,” claimed DiPasquale, highlighting the key role played by leverage.
Gabriel Selby, head of research at CF Benchmarks, also weighed in.
“Bitcoin’s slide back toward $85,000 is an extension of weakness that began after the local high on December 9, just ahead of the Fed meeting,” he stated via email.
“Today’s price action has been very technical: the market effectively rebalanced around the CME weekend opening gap between Friday’s market close and Sunday’s open,” stated Selby. “Once that gap was filled, selling accelerated right after the CME session opened, triggering stop orders and pushing Bitcoin’s spot price toward the December 1 lows.”
He also highlighted the impact major developments are having on the markets, noting that “This technical flush is also coinciding with one of the noisiest macro weeks of the year.”
“Because of the government shutdown, federal agencies are still catching up on data releases: this includes delayed non-farm payrolls and unemployment data, retail sales, and then the November CPI print on Thursday, the first inflation update in two months,” said Selby.
“That cluster of releases likely means rate expectations and real yields will be volatile this week, and Bitcoin tends to struggle when the market is constantly repricing the Fed’s path,” he added.
Year-End Liquidity Event
One analyst took a different tack, claiming that the recent weakness in bitcoin prices was largely a result of seasonality.
“This drop to $85k isn’t a fundamental failure; it’s a liquidity event,” said William Stern, founder of Cardiff.
“Sophisticated operators are cashing out Q4 crypto gains to fund real-world Q1 operations—buying inventory, paying taxes, and hedging against 2026 uncertainty,” he stated.
“When you need liquidity in milliseconds, Bitcoin is simply the first lever you pull.”
A Bullish Outlook
Another market observer stated that while bitcoin has encountered some downside lately, the underlying fundamentals have only been growing more robust.
“Bitcoin’s fundamentals have grown far more solid this year, not less,” said Tim Enneking, managing partner of Psalion. He noted that “BTC treasury companies are buying hundreds of thousands of BTC at this, relative price, regulatory headwinds are minimal, more and more large actors are getting into the game, etc.”
“More and more Bitcoin feels like a coiling spring,” he stated. “The current drop – not based on any specific, negative event whatsoever – simply coils the spring tighter.”
“There is no fundamental reason for it, so the technicals are driving spot purchases,” claimed Enneking. “Eventually, the fundamentals will prevail.”