Bitcoin (BTC) Drops Below $80K, Trump-Led Rally Appears to Be Over

Bitcoin continued its downward slide, falling below $80,000 on Thursday night. The leading crypto is 25% down from its all-time high.

Bitcoin price fell below $80,000 on Thursday night as the leading cryptocurrency continued its downward slide.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $82,493.9 according to Benzinga Pro. It recovered slightly from the morning lows of $78,000 to trade above $80,000. However, investor sentiment remains pessimistic as the Trump-led crypto rally appears to be over.

The question now is: How much lower can Bitcoin go?

The worst-case scenario would be that Bitcoin would drop to the $72,000-74,000 range, according to Sid Powell, CEO & Co-Founder of Maple, an institutional capital marketplace built on the blockchain. In an email to Quartz, Powell explained that, according to technical analysis, a breakdown below a prolonged range typically results in a significant decline.

"If Bitcoin is in the $90,000-1000,000 range, as we've seen over the last few months, it would have the potential to slide to $70,000."

But why is Bitcoin sliding so rapidly?

The latest decline may be linked to a crypto hack that targeted a Dubai-based exchange named Bybit. On Feb. 21, 2025, attackers — allegedly the North Korean state-sponsored Lazarus Group — stole around $1.4 billion in crypto assets from the exchange's wallet.

The theft occurred as the cryptocurrency market was already grappling with a series of setbacks, including the recent memecoin scandal linked to Argentina's President Javier Milei, which sparked skepticism and negative sentiment among investors, further impacting the crypto market.

Moreover, macroeconomic factors are at play, with Bitcoin and the entire crypto market facing pressure from the ongoing tariff war. Amid rising trade tensions, there was a broad risk-off decline across all markets, but, as Powell noted, the crypto market has been hit the hardest.

"There's a lot of nervousness from investors on how U.S. tariffs could impact the broader landscape and the excitement over the new administration fading now that Trump has been in office for some time," Powell added.

Bitcoin ETFs continue facing massive outflows

Once hailed as the most successful exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in history, U.S. Bitcoin ETFs have seen significant withdrawals in recent weeks. Excluding two positive days, they have recorded net outflows totaling $3.7 billion this month. On Tuesday, Feb. 25th, Bitcoin ETFs experienced a record outflow of over $1 billion in a single day.

This sustained outflow is naturally putting pressure on Bitcoin's price, signaling that investors are no longer pouring in funds at the same pace as before.

Perhaps the SEC will bring Bitcoin back on track

Powell believes that the Trump rally has certainly faded and that positive actions from policymakers could help improve the state of the crypto market.

In recent weeks, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has emerged as a big supporter of the crypto industry — a shift that seemed unimaginable just a few years ago.

For example, on Thursday, the SEC stated that most memecoins, such as Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) and Shiba Inu (CRYPTO: SHIB), are not securities under U.S. federal law. The financial watchdog explained that memecoins have limited or no functionality and are "more akin to collectibles."

However, the SEC's latest stance did little to boost memecoin prices, as memecoins continued to decline in the market on Friday morning. The broader crypto market also saw red across the board, with Bitcoin falling below $80,000 once again.

Earlier this month, the SEC, now led by Hester Peirce, dropped cases against Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN), Robinhood (NASDAQ:HOOD), and other crypto companies that had been accused of selling unregistered securities, marking a notable shift in the regulatory landscape for cryptocurrencies.

"If the SEC continues to loosen its grip and we see more pro-crypto laws put in place, Bitcoin can pull back, and we'll see another positive moment in the market once again," he added.