Bitcoin plunges to lowest level since October 2024
The price of bitcoin plunged more than 10% on Thursday, sinking the world's largest cryptocurrency to its lowest level since October 2024 and erasing sizable gains made since then.
That was weeks before the election of President Donald Trump, a crypto supporter whose return to the nation's highest office helped propel bitcoin to record highs.
Bitcoin clocked in at a price of about $66,100 on Thursday afternoon, leaving it 48% below an all-time high of about $126,210 attained just four months earlier, in October 2025.
The decline of bitcoin deepened a days-long stretch of sharp losses stretching back to last week.
Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, also extended recent losses, shedding about 10% of its value on Thursday. Solana, another popular crypto coin, saw its price dip 11%.
Experts who previously spoke to ABC News attributed the recent decline in crypto prices to looming geopolitical and economic uncertainty, which has prompted a momentum-driven selloff as crypto holders raced to the exits. The initial drop likely forced some leveraged buyers to sell off their positions, intensifying the downward pressure, they added.
The labor market has slowed in recent months, while inflation has hovered above the Federal Reserve's target rate of 2%.
Meanwhile, geopolitical conflict looms amid negotiations over Greenland, U.S.-backed leadership in Venezuela, the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, as well as escalating U.S. threats against Iran over the past few weeks.
In recent weeks, Trump has threatened tariffs against Canada, South Korea and eight European countries, invoking the tool as means of exerting pressure over a range of foreign-policy issues.
The current market for crypto is a far cry from the boom enjoyed by the sector in the aftermath of the 2024 presidential election.
Bitcoin climbed more than 40% over the weeks after Election Day, when voters opted for Trump, who had previously vowed to make the U.S. the "crypto capital of the world."
On the campaign trail, Trump also vowed to bolster the cryptocurrency sector and ease regulations enforced by the Biden administration. Trump also promised to establish the federal government's first National Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.
Bitcoin has proven highly volatile since its launch about 15 years ago
As recently as 2022, bitcoin suffered a downturn that cut its value by more than 60%. A similar drop happened in each of the prior two years, when the pandemic helped trigger waves of buying and selling.
Despite its ups and downs, bitcoin has sustained an upward long-term trajectory. Over the past five years, the price has climbed 63%. Over that period, the S&P 500 has increased 75%.
