Bitcoin drops below $63k, wipes out 50% from Oct record high

Bitcoin dipped again on Tuesday, extending recent declines and halving in value from its October record high as uncertainty over U.S. tariff policy weighed on risk appetite for cryptocurrencies.

Broader crypto prices also extended recent declines, as institutional and retail traders continued to sell down their holdings. Heightened geopolitical uncertainty over Iran and an artificial intelligence fueled selldown on Wall Street hampered sentiment.

Bitcoin fell 3.6% to $63,640 by 09:50 ET (14:50 GMT). The crypto had fallen as low as $62,550 earlier in the day. 

Bitcoin wipes out 50% from record high; tariff jitters weigh 

Tuesday’s losses saw Bitcoin now trading about 50% below a record high of $126,272 hit in early-October. 

The world’s largest crypto has been on an extended downturn since then, as new U.S. regulatory measures and persistent buying by top corporate holder Strategy did little to shore up sentiment. 

Strategy disclosed the purchase of an additional 592 Bitcoin on Monday. The company is nursing deep losses on the value of its Bitcoin holdings, with the crypto also trading below Strategy’s average Bitcoin cost of $76,020. 

On-chain analysis from CryptoQuant and Coinglass showed large Bitcoin holders– known in the industry as “whales”-- continued to move vast amounts of the crypto onto exchanges, likely to sell more of the coin. 

At the same time, there appeared to be a lack of major buyers among institutional and retail investors. Glassnode data showed institutional investors dumped spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds for a fifth consecutive week as of Monday. 

Some technical indicators, however, suggest the recent pullback may be nearing exhaustion.

"Bitcoin is flashing its first short-term counter trend ‘buy’ signal from the DeMARK Indicators since December 30th, supporting a rebound over the next two weeks," Katie Stockton, founder of Fairlead Strategies.

Trump tariff uncertainty weighs, new duties take effect

Bitcoin’s latest bout of weakness was driven chiefly by heightened uncertainty over U.S. trade policy, after the Supreme Court struck down a bulk of President Donald Trump’s trade tariffs.

Trump had responded by announcing 15% universal tariffs under a different legal framework, although the levies only took effect at 10% on midnight, Tuesday. 

Trump now faces a greater legal challenge towards imposing and raising his trade tariffs, although the president has signaled few plans to back off from his tariff agenda. He also threatened countries with higher tariffs if they attempted to renegotiate recent trade deals with Washington. 

While crypto markets are not directly affected by trade ructions, they are highly sensitive to shifts in market sentiment, given their entirely speculative nature. Uncertainty over U.S. tariffs sparked risk aversion across global financial markets.