Bitcoin has continued to extend its losing streak on Tuesday. According to CoinDesk data, the world’s largest digital asset dropped 2.6% in the past 24 hours to trade at $109,628.
The decline leaves Bitcoin 11% below the record high it set earlier this month and has sparked fresh debate over whether the bull run has already peaked in 2025.
The latest sell-off is being attributed to a “whale,” a large Bitcoin holder offloading assets that pushed the market below critical technical levels. Bitcoin’s price briefly dipped below its previous all-time high of $109,300, first reached in January 2025, raising concerns that the token could be headed for deeper losses.
Analysts highlight that Bitcoin has broken below the 100-day exponential moving average (EMA), a level that has historically signaled further near-term weakness. “BTC has broken below the 100 EMA on the daily chart. That’s not a good sign and could open the door for a deeper correction toward $103K,” trader Cryptorphic cautioned in a post on X.
Other traders are watching whether the $100,000 level will be retested, or if Bitcoin could even slip back into five-figure territory. Weakening on-chain metrics, including lower trade volumes and bearish divergences in the relative strength index (RSI), are reinforcing bearish sentiment.
Bitcoin’s sharp pullback has triggered nearly $500 million in long liquidations since Sunday, according to CoinGlass data. Many of the newest investors, those holding BTC for less than a month are now sitting on unrealized losses of around -3.5% and have begun selling, analyst CrazzyBlockk noted.
However, some traders see signs of a possible rebound. “BTC downside liquidity has been hunted. And now, it seems like shorts will be liquidated next,” trader BitBull suggested.
Despite the fear, some analysts argue the correction fits within Bitcoin’s broader bull market structure. Since early 2023, the cryptocurrency has posted several drawdowns of 20-30% before resuming its uptrend. Merlijn The Trader, for instance, dismissed the idea that Bitcoin has already topped at $124,000, calling it “noise” rather than a cycle peak.
While Bitcoin struggles, Ethereum has attracted growing interest. Digital asset investors have recently rotated into ETH, which hit a new high on Sunday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled potential interest rate cuts.
Data from Blockchain.com highlighted a major whale offloading 24,000 BTC ($2.7 billion) into the decentralized platform Hyperliquid over the past nine days. Of that, 18,142 BTC worth $2 billion was already sold and rotated into 416,598 ETH, according to analyst MLM.
Another whale sold 670 BTC ($76 million) to open a leveraged long ETH position last Thursday, reinforcing a growing trend of whales swapping Bitcoin for Ether. ETH has rallied 220% since bottoming at $1,471 in April, narrowing the gap with Bitcoin and Solana (SOL), which led earlier phases of the bull cycle.
Though Ethereum has since cooled on profit-taking, analysts at Kaiko noted that “liquidity and volumes remain supportive.”
For now, traders and investors are waiting for a fresh catalyst to drive Bitcoin’s next move. The cryptocurrency failed to rally past its previous high of $124k, after Powell’s Jackson Hole speech even as stocks surged on the prospect of lower borrowing costs.