The Bitcoin price is falling this Thursday (22), pressured by a sharp sell-off in Asian stock markets that pushed China's equity market into a bear market, a period marked by losses of at least 20% from a recent peak. The cryptocurrency also gave back the gains posted the previous evening, when it came close to US$ 85,000, triggering millions of dollars in investor liquidations.
This morning, Bitcoin is down 1.6%, trading at US$ 81,980 over 24 hours. In euros, the world's largest cryptocurrency stood at roughly 68,925 EUR, according to data from Portal do Bitcoin. Ethereum, meanwhile, is down 1.9%, at US$ 2,409. XRP is down 1.5%, while Solana is down 2.3% and BNB drops 1.6%.
The move tracks a wave of losses across international markets. In China, the CSI 300 index, which groups the 300 largest stocks traded on the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges, fell 2% on Thursday, taking its decline to 20% from the peak reached in June.
The result puts China's stock market in bear-market territory, deepening investor concern about the performance of the world's second-largest economy.
The drop also hit other Asian markets. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell around 3%, while South Korea's Kospi lost 3.5%. In Taiwan, the main stock index fell 2%, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng posted losses of around 3%.
Technology companies led the sell-off. According to Bloomberg, Chinese tech stocks traded in Hong Kong had their worst daily performance since Donald Trump's trade tariff announcement in April 2025.
The index tracking those companies has now fallen more than 40% from its recent high, wiping out most of the gains made after the stimulus package announced by the Chinese government in September.
The move was amplified by quarterly results from US companies, which once again raised doubts about the ability of billions of dollars in artificial intelligence investment to generate financial returns.
Tesla, for instance, lowered its investment projections, while Meta raised the lower bound of its spending forecast. The announcements increased investor caution towards the technology sector.
In the United States, Nasdaq 100 futures, which track large technology companies, were down nearly 2%, pointing to the possibility of further losses when markets open.
Another factor weighing on markets is the rise in oil prices. Brent crude topped US$ 112 on Thursday, its highest level since May, while US WTI crude crossed US$ 100.
The rally in the commodity is adding to concerns about global inflation and could complicate any interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
The risk-off mood also hit precious metals. Gold fell more than 1%, to below US$ 4,100 per ounce, while silver dropped more than 3.5%, trading near US$ 55.
Against this backdrop, Bitcoin's recovery seen on Wednesday lost steam quickly, hitting leveraged traders hardest.
According to CoinGlass data, approximately US$ 431 million in leveraged positions were liquidated across the cryptocurrency market in the past 24 hours.
Initially, Bitcoin's rise forced the closure of around US$ 173 million in short positions, used by investors betting on a price drop.
When the cryptocurrency began to fall, it was the turn of investors betting on a rally to take losses. In the 12 hours before the survey, around US$ 210 million in long positions were liquidated.
The largest single liquidation identified occurred on Binance, where a long Bitcoin position worth US$ 11.8 million was closed when the cryptocurrency was trading near US$ 83,500.
Despite Thursday's drop, US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) registered a recovery in inflows.
According to SoSoValue data, the products received approximately US$ 1.08 billion in net inflows over the first three trading sessions of this week, pointing to a renewed pickup in investor demand for the cryptocurrency.
The result is positive, but analysts warn that the recent pace of investment is not yet enough to signal a new, consistent upward trend.
"There is an initial improvement in institutional demand. However, flows remain volatile, and sustained inflows are needed to confirm a stronger recovery," said Vikram Subburaj, CEO of Indian exchange Giottus, to CoinDesk.
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