Representation of Bitcoin cryptocurrency in this illustration taken Sept. 10, 2025.
Dado Ruvic | Reuters
Bitcoin on Tuesday plunged below $100,000 for the first time in more than four months, as cryptocurrency holders backed off the risk-on asset amid growing concerns about the sustainability of stock valuations driven to stratospheric heights by the artificial intelligence trade.
Bitcoin was last trading 5% lower on the day at $100,893, dipping at one point as low as $99,966. Tuesday marked the first time since June 23 that the flagship cryptocurrency traded below $100,000. Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, shed nearly 9% on Tuesday to trade at $3,275.
The leading cryptocurrencies attract many of the same investors as artificial intelligence stocks, linking the two trades when one goes bad. The Nasdaq Composite, home to the leading AI stocks, dropped more than 1% Tuesday, with investors selling AI-linked Palantir on concerns about its eye-watering valuation despite the data manager’s solid earnings results in its latest quarter.
“Bitcoin and the broader crypto market is exhausted,” Haonan Li, founder of Ethereum-based stablecoin platform Codex, told CNBC. “Even with stablecoin growth, rising [real-world asset] volumes, and Bitcoin increasingly behaving like an institutional store of value — the market doesn’t care. Bad news is very bad for crypto right now … and good news barely moves the needle.”
Bitcoin since June 23
Absent individuals
Compass Point analyst Ed Engel said individual investors may not be buying the dip as much as in the past.
“While selling from Long-term Holders is a common feature in bull markets, retail spot buyers have been less engaged than prior cycles,” he said in a note.
The latest downdraft could pull bitcoin deeper into the red, dragging the token more enduringly below the $100,000 support level, according to the analyst.
“With Long-term Holders still selling, this leaves further downside risk if Short-term Holders’ capitulate further,” Engel wrote. “While we see support for BTC above $95k, we also don’t see many near-term catalysts.”
Bitcoin’s price has largely trended downward over the past few weeks, with October’s historically strong seasonality failing to materialize this year.
Bitcoin last failed to rise on seasonal tailwinds in October 2018, Engel noted. In the month that followed, Bitcoin plunged 37% in November of that year.