Bitcoin drops below $81,000, hits lowest level since 2022

Bitcoin has been nosediving over the last 24 hours, having its worst month since 2022.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency dropped to a low of $80,880.24 at 7:25 a.m. ET on Friday, according to CoinDesk data. Bitcoin rose slightly to $85,071.73 as of 9:42 a.m ET.

It has been sliding since early November after seeing major gains in October when Bitcoin hit its highest level in the cryptocurrency’s history, reaching a peak of $126,000.

It fell below $100,000 in mid-November and dropped below $90,000 on Thursday. The cryptocurrency is down more than 31% from its peak in October, according to MarketWatch.

November is Bitcoin’s worst month since June 2022, dropping almost 22% so far for the month. In June 2022, Bitcoin’s value fell by 41%, according to Bloomberg data. In 2022, the crypto world collapsed after multiple cryptocurrency platforms went bankrupt — including the high-profile collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s exchange FTX.

Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency, is also seeing red. It dropped about 8% over the last 24 hours while Tether, the third biggest cryptocurrency, also saw a drop before gaining a little bit of ground — about 0.01%.

Bitcoin had a fairly lucrative summer, reaching highs well over $100,000, that carried into part of the fall. But now it seems the cryptocurrency’s gains might be too good to last.

“Liquidity will likely dry up across markets this week and heading into the holiday season,” Adam Morgan McCarthy, head of research at the crypto data provider Kaiko, told Barron’s. “This could exacerbate moves if investors continue to par positions before the holidays and liquidity dries up more.”

Major stock exchanges, including the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500, and Nasdaq Composite, also all dropped this week before picking up a bit of steam Friday.