Bitcoin just had its worst week since the crypto winter, plunging below $80,000 for the first time in nine months as a brutal combination of global market selloffs and forced liquidations triggered a cascading collapse. The world's largest cryptocurrency hit $74,876 early Monday before recovering slightly to $77,494, erasing more than $200 billion in market value in just seven days. The 12% weekly drop marks a dramatic reversal for an asset class that's struggled to regain its safe-haven narrative.
The crypto market's brutal weekend just got worse. Bitcoin crashed through the $80,000 floor early Monday, bottoming out at $74,876 before clawing back to $77,494 by mid-morning - its lowest level since April 2025 and a stark reminder that crypto remains tightly coupled to traditional risk assets.
The damage is staggering. Bitcoin's lost more than $200 billion in market value over seven days, according to CoinMarketCap, with the 12% weekly drop marking one of its worst performances since the 2022 crypto winter. But this wasn't just about traders losing confidence - it was about a mechanical unraveling of overleveraged positions that fed on themselves.
Dessislava Ianeva, research analyst at crypto exchange Nexo, told CNBC the drawdown "coincided with a broader risk-off shift across global markets" and "was amplified by structurally thin weekend liquidity, rather than by crypto-specific developments or signs of fundamental stress." In other words, Bitcoin didn't break on its own - the entire risk asset complex shattered, and crypto was just the loudest casualty.
The immediate trigger traces back to Friday's tech bloodbath. Microsoft plummeted 10% after earnings disappointed investors, dragging the Nasdaq down and sending shockwaves through European and Asian markets on Monday. That risk-off sentiment spread to precious metals, with silver posting its worst single-day drop since March 1980 - a 30% freefall that left traditional safe-haven investors scrambling.
