Bitcoin Slides Near $93,000 as Crypto Market Rout Intensifies

A sweeping sell-off gripped the cryptocurrency market as U.S. trading got underway, with bitcoin (BTC) hovering close to the $93,000 mark and sparking a chain reaction of losses among major digital assets.

By midday, key tokens like ether (ETH), Solana’s SOL, Cardano’s ADA, XRP, and BNB had each shed as much as 16%. The downturn was even more pronounced for dogecoin (DOGE), which tumbled more than 27%, according to available market data. Overall, the total cryptocurrency market capitalization declined by over 11% in just 24 hours—one of this year’s steepest single-day drops.

Some market participants pointed to the Federal Reserve’s more cautious stance as a catalyst for this sudden shift in sentiment. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting earlier in the week, though delivering a rate cut as widely expected, signaled a more restrained outlook for the coming year than traders had anticipated.

“The rate cut itself was priced in, but investors were counting on a more optimistic long-term view,” said Jeff Mei, Chief Operating Officer at cryptocurrency exchange BTSE, in a message to CoinDesk. “The Fed now expects only two rate cuts next year instead of the four that many had previously forecast. Until inflation shows clearer signs of easing and we have more concrete policies from the incoming Trump administration, traders should approach these markets with caution.”

Still, Mei noted that the bigger picture may hold promise for digital assets. “In the mid to long term, we believe that monetary and fiscal stimulus, both in the U.S. and globally, will ultimately expand liquidity. This environment should eventually uplift crypto markets, and strengthen bitcoin’s role as a reliable store of value similar to gold,” he said.