Bitcoin Drops Below $80,000 Amid Market Uncertainty

Bitcoin fell below $80,000 this Friday, as the market faces uncertainties tied to President Donald Trump’s tariff plans and the recent $1.5 billion crypto heist to the ByBit exchange.

According to Reuters, the cryptocurrency dropped 5% this Friday, registering $79,666—its lowest value since November.

Last year, Bitcoin hit a record high of $82,000 in November after the U.S. elections, followed by another surge past the $100,000 benchmark in December, and then peaking at $105,000 a few days later.

Crypto investors had been feeling optimistic as Trump showed support for the crypto market and announced crypto-advocate Paul Atkins as head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). However, they seem to have lost trust the past few days.

“Bitcoin’s fall below $80k shows that positive sentiments from a crypto-friendly administration and high-profile endorsements have run their course,” said Joshua Chu, Co-Chair of the Hong Kong Web3 Association to Reuters.

Another expert, Kyle Rodda, senior financial market analyst at Capital.com, told Reuters that the optimism the Trump administration had built by the end of the year has been fading as they haven’t shared more updates or new policies favoring the market.

Also, the new import tariffs imposed by Trump raise fears of higher inflation rates and slow growth in the global economy.

“Momentum ran out when there was no fresh news to keep driving the bullish narrative,” said Rodda.

The world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum, was also down by nearly 6%—$2,149.38—showing a significant decline since January when it reached nearly $4,000.

This fall is also strongly linked to the hacking attack on the Dubai-based cryptocurrency exchange Bybit, which resulted in the largest theft in digital asset history. Hackers stole approximately 400,000 Ethereum coins.

“It’s a combination of macro forces. The Fed only planning one rate cut, more tariffs, uncertainties around geopolitics and war, and the ByBit hack didn’t help confidence either,” said Reuben Conceicao, chief strategy officer at digital wallet firm Metasig. “It is hard for people to be excited and pump BTC when there are bigger issues at play.”