Bitcoin slid sharply on Saturday, falling below $80,000 for the first time since April 2025, as continued selling pressure and a lack of new money weighed on the cryptocurrency market.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency fell 10% to $75,709.88 during afternoon trading in New York on Saturday, extending its losses to more than 30% from its peak. Ethereum fell as much as 17%, while Solana plunged more than 17% at one point, showing widespread weakness among major coins.
The sell-off wiped out approximately $111 billion from the total cryptocurrency market value in the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko. About $1.6 billion in leveraged long and short positions were liquidated during the same period, mainly in Bitcoin and Ethereum, according to market tracking firm Coinglass.
The latest decline comes amid thin liquidity and subdued buying interest – which analysts say reflects the market’s difficulty attracting new capital. Ki Young Ju, CEO of on-chain analytics firm CryptoQuant, said Bitcoin’s realized capital has essentially flatlined, indicating that new money has stopped flowing into the asset.
“When market caps fall and realized market caps don’t grow, that’s not a bull market,” Ju said in a post on X.
Early Bitcoin holders have been sitting on massive unrealized gains after months of heavy buying by spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds and Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy, Ju said.
While these inflows stabilized prices near $100,000 for much of last year, profit-taking by long-term holders has continued since early 2024 and is now colliding with a sharp slowdown in demand.
Bitcoin is falling as selling pressure persists and there are no new inflows.
The realized cap has been flat, meaning no new capital. When market capitalization falls in this environment, it’s not a bull market.
Early holders are sitting on huge unrealized gains thanks to ETFs and MSTR… https://t.co/OnnzQMy6Ra pic.twitter.com/J0yTtCTQjr
— Ki Young Joo (@ki_young_ju) February 1, 2026
Ju said MicroStrategy has been the main driver of the rally, adding that a deep, cyclical plunge of 70% is unlikely unless the company starts selling its Bitcoin holdings. Still, selling pressure remains high, leaving the market with no clear bottom in the short term.
According to CoinDesk, each Bitcoin fell below $76,037 on Saturday, causing Strategy’s Bitcoin position to decrease slightly, but did not put any direct financial pressure on the company.
The pullback echoes price levels following the effects of the so-called Liberation Day and adds to weeks of macro frustration for Bitcoin. The asset has failed to rebound despite previous episodes that would have supported prices, including a weaker dollar for much of January and a surge in gold prices to record highs.
Bitcoin also drew little reaction as gold and silver reversed sharply on Friday, dampening expectations that the cryptocurrency could benefit from a spillover hedge. Meanwhile, delays in new market structure rules for the U.S. cryptocurrency industry have further eroded investor confidence.
Ju does not expect the current downturn to be resolved by a quick rebound, but by a prolonged period of sideways trading.
“This bear market is more likely to result in a broad consolidation,” he said.
