Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other major cryptocurrencies saw a sharp decline late Monday evening, with the world’s largest digital asset sliding below the key $86,000 level as investor sentiment shifted rapidly toward “safer assets.” Bitcoin dropped 4.4% in the 24 hours leading up to 11:30 p.m. ET Monday, settling at $85,617, while ether slipped 6.5% to $2,915. Other top cryptocurrencies followed suit, with BNB falling 4.2%, XRP losing 6.7%, and Solana declining 4.5%.
Analysts pointed to a confluence of factors, stressing that the movement was not driven by a clear crypto-specific event but rather by broader macroeconomic concerns. Rick Maeda, a research associate at Presto Research, noted that the crypto sell-off coincided mainly with the start of U.S. cash equity trading, which saw major stock indices open lower and subsequently drag down other risk assets. The S&P 500 lost 0.16%, the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.59%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged down 0.09%. Maeda added that thinning liquidity leading up to the year-end tends to “exaggerate moves,” particularly during U.S. trading hours.
This overall cautious mood makes a so-called “Santa rally” increasingly unlikely, especially as Bitcoin fails to reclaim key resistance levels following the Fed’s rate decision.
Adding to the bearish factors, some industry observers suggested that the decline may also be tied to reports of a recent crypto mining shutdown in China’s Xinjiang region. Jianping Kong, chairman of Nano Labs, stated on social media that at least 400,000 mining rigs had recently gone offline in China, citing estimates showing the global network hashrate fell by about 100 exahashes per second, representing roughly an 8% drop.
This follows China’s recent tightening of its crypto ban, with its central bank pledging in late November to “severely crack down on illegal and criminal activities.” Min Jung, also a research associate at Presto, noted that China’s mining share had quietly rebounded in recent months due to cheap power, but the speed of the current enforcement demonstrates the fragility of this rebound. While Jung said there is no clear evidence of Xinjiang miners selling large quantities of bitcoin, Liu of Kronos admitted that the crackdown could weigh on the hashrate in the short term, potentially triggering brief sell pressure, though the long-term fundamentals of Bitcoin remain intact.
