President Trump signs the Genius Act, the first major cryptocurrency law in the US
President Donald Trump signed the Genius Act, creating the United States’ first virtual currency law regulating stablecoins.
Cryptocurrencies are having a bad, bad, bad, very bad month, and it could get much worse before it gets better, experts said.
Cryptocurrencies have plummeted this month, losing more than $1 trillion in value in recent weeks. Bitcoin has fallen to its lowest level since April, entering its worst month since 2022. It is down more than 33% from its all-time high of over $126,000 in early October, pushing the digital sector into bear market territory, officially defined as at least 20% below its all-time high.
Experts say Bitcoin is down about 10% so far this year, and further selling is likely, which could result in its first annual loss since 2022. As of 1:29 p.m. ET, Bitcoin was down 3.18% at $83,776.81.
“It seems like we are in the early stages of a decline process,” said Hyunsoo Jeong, CEO of crypto-listed company Hyperion Defy.
Why are virtual currencies including Bitcoin plummeting?
Analysts said a variety of factors contributed to the cryptocurrency’s weakness. Cryptocurrencies tend to trade in conjunction with riskier growth stocks such as artificial intelligence and technology, which have also taken a hit recently amid concerns about high valuations and an uncertain economy.
“It would be difficult to attribute the sale to a single factor,” Jung said. “In the current state of the market, risk assets in stocks and cryptocurrencies are both on a downward trend. This is due to multiple factors, including the possible depletion of AI trading.”
Global interest rate uncertainty and cash-out moves by other large crypto holders, such as corporate digital asset vaults and investment firm BlackRock, are also weighing on cryptocurrencies, Jung said.
How that first sale turned into a frenzy
This initial decline pushed cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin to several technical support levels on the price chart, triggering a series of sell-offs among trend followers, further exacerbating the decline.
Specifically, according to Tom Essay, founder and president of Sevens Report Research, the key signals that drive more sales are:
- When Bitcoin rose in October, the Relative Strength Index (RSI), which measures the strength of price fluctuations, did not rise along with the digital currency and continued to suggest a downside.
- Bitcoin broke through a key support level at $106,000, further fueling a very heavy sale. He said the sell-off was “not due to short-term traders, but due to long-term investors exiting the market.” “The trend of high volume on slow days has continued to date, with some of the highest volume regions experiencing a 4.4% decline in the second half of 2025.”
What does this mean for investors?
Some analysts warned that the sharp decline could lead to further sales growth. “Concerns about another wave of forced sales have been reignited amid concerns that retail investors may have to unload other assets to meet margin calls,” said Jim Reid, an economist at Deutsche Bank. A margin call is when a securities company requests investors to deposit additional money or securities to make up for a shortfall that occurs during a sudden price decline.
Once the dust settles, some experts say investors with strong stomachs may get in on the action, though no one can say when that will be yet.
After reviewing a company’s 13F, or Securities and Exchange Commission forms required for institutional investment managers that oversee at least $100 million in assets under management, George Smith, portfolio strategist at LPL Financial, found that “the significant increase in cryptocurrency-related products and blockchain mining companies (underscores) the growing demand among institutional investors for digital assets.”
This could bode well for cryptocurrencies, as institutional investors are often considered the “smart money.”
Again, “no one should invest beyond their risk tolerance,” said David Namdar, CEO of CEA Industries, the largest corporate holder of the Binance Coin cryptocurrency. “Historically, however, long-term value is often created in moments like this, when sentiment is low and volatility is high. People looking to invest need to think in terms of years, not days, and need to understand the inherent volatility of an asset.”
Medora Lee is USA TODAY’s money, markets and personal finance reporter. Please contact us at mjlee@usatoday.com. Subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter for personal finance tips and business news every Monday through Friday morning.
