Bitcoin for a month has lost all the gain in 2025. What do market participants expect next?

The weakening euphoria in the cryptocurrency markets has caused bitcoin to lose more than 30 percent of the gains accumulated since the beginning of the year in just over a month. Some analysts advise insuring against the risk of bitcoin slipping below $93k, while others see the current downturn as a buying opportunity.

The value of the largest cryptocurrency fell to $93.7 thousand on November 16, dropping below the closing level of 2024, when financial markets rose on the back of Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. presidential election. On Monday, bitcoin recovered some of its losses and is now trading at $95.5 thousand on crypto exchange Binance.

However, just over a month ago, on October 6, 2025, at the height of optimism associated with Trump's pro-cryptocurrency stance, the bitcoin price reached a record high of $126.25 thousand. However, the enthusiasm quickly waned after four days later Trump unexpectedly threatened to impose an additional duty of 100% on goods from China, which shook global markets and triggered a sell-off of risky assets. As a result, the total market value of bitcoins by the end of last week had fallen by $600 billion from its October high, Bloomberg calculated.

The cryptocurrency market appears to be preparing for the possibility that the U.S. Federal Reserve may pause its interest rate cut cycle in December, CoinDesk reported, citing Jeff May, chief operating officer of cryptocurrency exchange BTSE. Until then, low trading activity is likely to continue - unless a major macroeconomic driver emerges, May suggested.

The growth of the largest cryptocurrency in 2025 was largely due to large-scale purchases by bitcoin treasuries (companies that prefer to hold reserves in bitcoin) and cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs). However, there are no active buyers in the market right now that can influence the bitcoin exchange rate, Yahoo Finance reported, citing a research note from 10X Research. Numerous indicators show that bitcoin is "in bear market mode," and if its rate falls below $93,000, the decline could continue in the near term, 10X Research warned.

One of the most striking examples of a "buyers' strike" in the digital asset segment has been the change in attitude towards Strategy, the largest corporate owner of bitcoins. Not long ago, the company was a symbol of investment in crypto-assets, but now its shares are trading near the value of the bitcoins on its balance sheet - a sign that investors are no longer willing to pay a premium for Strategy's model of aggressive leveraged bitcoin investing, Bloomberg writes.

Lacking a traditional Wall Street model for bitcoin valuation - there is no consistent correlation or proven risk-assessment system - crypto investors are turning to the most familiar model: the halving cycle, in which the reward for mining is halved about every four years, Bloomberg notes. Typically, halving spurred a speculative boom followed by a downturn.

"The sentiment of retail investors in the crypto sector is very negative. They don't want to experience another 50 percent downturn. People are playing it safe by getting out of the market," Bloomberg quotes Matthew Hougan, chief investment officer at Bitwise Asset Management, as saying. However, Hougan himself considers the current bitcoin pullback a buying opportunity and believes in its growth in 2026.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor