Over the past week, the cryptocurrency market has experienced its most significant decline since the beginning of 2025. According to a new report from analysts at Bybit and Block Scholes, the price of Bitcoin dropped from $105,000 to below $82,000. This not only erased all gains of the asset since the start of the year but also resulted in most Bitcoin ETF investors incurring losses, as their average entry price is around $89,000.
This is reported by Finway
Wave of Panic Among Traders and the Options Market
The decline in Bitcoin intensified following the release of the U.S. employment report, which indicated that 119,000 new jobs were created in September, well above the forecast of 50,000. Additionally, the market was unsettled by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ announcement of the absence of an October report, which participants interpreted as a signal of a potential delay in the Federal Reserve’s interest rate cuts in December.
At the same time, the Fed lowered the benchmark interest rate by 0.25% for the second time this year at the end of October. However, analysts note that expectations for a more accommodative monetary policy could lead to a so-called “Santa Rally” at the end of the year. Nevertheless, CryptoQuant believes that if the Fed does not cut rates in December, Bitcoin could trade within the range of $60,000 to $80,000 by the end of 2025.
Amid market uncertainty, options traders have sharply increased their hedging with bearish put options. The report indicates that short-term volatility has significantly risen, and premiums for put options have increased by more than 10% for contracts expiring within the next week. The implied volatility of Bitcoin and Ethereum has surpassed the peaks observed after the drop on October 10, indicating a prevailing fear of further asset devaluation.
Open Interest and Investor Positions
Analysts note that open interest in major tokens is stabilizing at around $9 billion, which is nearly half of what it was before the October crash. Retail traders on Bybit are hesitant to open new long positions despite the significant drop in Bitcoin’s price. At the same time, the sell-off has primarily occurred in the spot market rather than through leverage, confirming a slight decrease in open interest even amid falling prices.
“We still see cautious interest in reopening positions that were closed in October.”
The drop in Bitcoin’s value to $82,000 triggered a wave of liquidations amounting to over $1.9 billion. According to experts, the return of the price below $90,000 marked a symbolic moment when the asset lost all its gains from the beginning of the year, significantly lagging behind the performance of U.S. tech stocks and gold. Most ETF investors are now at a loss, as their average entry price remained at $89,000. Additionally, the decline to $83,000 caused a substantial increase in demand for out-of-the-money put options for risk hedging.
The report emphasizes that the testing of price levels last seen in April 2025 has led to a pronounced bearish sentiment in the options market. While some negative expectations have already been priced in by traders, the overall backdrop remains predominantly pessimistic.
It is worth noting that at the beginning of November, analysts at JPMorgan predicted Bitcoin’s rise to $170,000 over the next 6–12 months, but the $94,000 level was identified as a key support zone for this asset.