--- title: "Bitcoin Is Taking a Nasty Swim" description: "Eight months after reaching an all-time high above $124,000, Bitcoin has shed some 45 percent of its value as buyers flee like rats." date: "2026-06-03" modified: "2026-06-03" authors: - name: "Joe Wilkins" job_title: "Correspondent" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins" url: "https://futurism.com/future-society/bitcoin-prices-bear-market-swim" categories: - "Bitcoin" - "Blockchain" - "Cryptocurrency" - "Future Society" --- # Bitcoin Is Taking a Nasty Swim ![Photograph of an enlarged bitcoin fading into darkness.]() *Shutterstock / Futurism* If you bought one single Bitcoin at the currency's peak price in October of 2025, you'd have lost over $58,000 across eight months of bleeding. The price of Bitcoin is now in the toilet, having fallen to $65,527 at its lowest so far this week. That's down over 45 percent from its all-time high of over $124,000 on October 7 of last year, and reverses nearly two years of gains since March of 2024. Some are speculating that Bitcoin's price slump will end in a major sell-off by [institutional investors](), who had hoovered up the digital currency in the wake of Donald Trump's 2024 election victory. As [*CNBC* reports](), typically rock-solid Bitcoin owners have sold about $2.4 billion worth of the digital currency over the last two days alone. Of all the Bitcoin sold over the last 30 days, the publication notes that 26 percent came from investors who bought-in at over $90,000. "This cohort of top-buyers had been resilient throughout the bear market; however, they're finally capitulating as BTC approaches new cycle lows," Ed Engel, analyst at the financial firm Compass Point told *CNBC*. Translation: Bitcoin is tanking so hard that even the most delusional holders are now fleeing like rats on a sinking ship. The downturn bolsters the longstanding theory that the Bitcoin market follows the dictates of [US election cycles](). Basically, prices tend to soar in the wake of US presidential elections, typically reaching a new record high in the latter half of the year after a new president is chosen — as they did in 2025, 2021, and 2017. During the year of a US midterm election, though, Bitcoin tends to collapse into a bear market, characterized by prolonged losses of over 20 percent. While this regularity would suggest the digital currency could moderate before too long, there's no real way to know how far Bitcoin could fall: the true bottom could be a long way down. **More on crypto:** *[Four Financial Journalists Accused of Being Fake AI-Generated Puppets That Shill Crypto in Forbes, HuffPost, and More]()* ## Author At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()