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Bitcoin Plummets Under $90,000 Amid Bybit Hack and Crypto Market Woes

In London on February 25th, Bitcoin experienced its most substantial one-day decline since August. The drop was triggered by concerns surrounding U.S. tariffs and Nvidia's results. Investor confidence was further weakened by last week's incident involving the Bybit exchange.

The world's leading cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, dropped below $90,000 to its lowest point since November, plummeting by up to 7.5% at one stage. This marks its most significant daily decrease since a global market downturn in early August that impacted stocks and bonds.

At the time of reporting, it had fallen by 6.2% to $22,338 for the day.

Recent unease among global investors stems from indications that the U.S. economy's perceived superiority might be diminishing, coupled with President Donald Trump's imminent tariff implementations.

Despite initial expectations for Bitcoin's price surge, following its peak above $100,000 in December, optimism surrounding the Trump administration's promotion of crypto-related initiatives has waned. The absence of new positive factors, such as advancements in crypto-friendly regulations or the approval of additional cryptocurrency ETFs, has resulted in a stagnant market, according to Thomas Erdosi, head of product at CF Benchmarks.

Moreover, investors have been withdrawing funds from Bitcoin-backed exchange-traded funds, with data from LSEG indicating a potential net monthly outflow of approximately $644 million, the largest since their inception in January 2024.

The recent security breach at Bybit, where hackers stole digital tokens valued at around $1.5 billion, added to the negative sentiment surrounding cryptocurrencies. The stolen coins were taken from a supposedly secure "cold wallet," which is usually stored offline for increased security, as highlighted by Bybit CEO Ben Zhou.

This incident, considered among the largest hacks in crypto history, has cast a shadow over the market. In response, Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market value, dropped by 9.5% to $2,386, nearing its lowest point since October.

Over the past week, Bitcoin has lost close to 8% of its value, while smaller altcoins have suffered heavier losses. Memecoin dogecoin, as well as tokens for the solana and cardano networks, all decreased by around 20%, according to Coingecko.