The price of Bitcoin fell to $86,000 due to macroeconomic negativity, primarily driven by the risk of a U.S. government shutdown.
In the last 24 hours, Bitcoin lost 1%, reaching $87,950.
15-minute BTC/USDT chart from Binance. Source: TradingView.Ethereum also declined by 1.9%, dropping to $2,882.
15-minute ETH/USDT chart from Binance. Source: TradingView.Rick Maeda, an analyst at Presto Research, linked the price drop to external factors rather than internal industry events. The main trigger is the political deadlock in Washington and uncertainty surrounding the federal budget.
The likelihood of a shutdown on the Polymarket prediction platform has reached 78%. Concerns have intensified following threats from Democrats to block funding for the Department of Homeland Security.
Source: Polymarket.Gold has reached a historic high, surpassing $5,000 per ounce, as investors move away from risk and once again choose the precious metal as their primary capital protection tool.
Source: Gold Price.Institutional Investors Move to Cash
Negative sentiment is confirmed by data on exchange-traded funds. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded a net outflow of $1.33 billion, marking the worst weekly performance since February 2025.
Source: SoSoValue.Vincent Liu, CIO of Kronos Research, described institutional behavior as "cautious." He noted, however, that there is selective interest in the sector: ARK Invest has purchased shares of Coinbase, Bullish, and Circle. Liu sees this as a sign of long-term faith in the industry.
Maeda challenged this conclusion, stating that ARK's strategy does not reflect overall market sentiment, as the firm invests in niche assets regardless of market phases.
Traders are now focusing on corporate earnings reports, particularly those from the "Magnificent Seven" companies.
Investors are assessing the impact of artificial intelligence on the revenues of tech giants. These results could set the trend for the entire stock market, which will inevitably affect Bitcoin due to its high correlation with risk assets.
Additional factors include the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision and the release of the Producer Price Index (PPI). Maeda added that stabilizing the market depends on halting ETF outflows and maintaining support levels for digital gold.
As a reminder, in January, Bitwise analysts declared that the fourth quarter of 2025 marked the end of the bear cycle. However, CryptoQuant believes that Bitcoin has entered an "early phase of decline."