The Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) price continues to grind lower.
Following the US presidential election that saw crypto-friendly Donald Trump storm back into the White House on 4 November 2024, the world's first and biggest crypto by market valuation went on a tear.
Indeed, for a while there, the Bitcoin price charge looked unstoppable.
Until it went into reverse.
Amid the growing popularity (and legality) of Bitcoin exchange traded funds (ETFs), and a rapid increase in institutional adoption, Bitcoin surged to an all-time high of US$126,198 on 7 October 2025, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
With the Bitcoin price down another 1.3% overnight, the digital token is currently trading for US$66,500. That's down 47.4% from the record highs posted just a little over four months ago. And it's now trading below where it was before Trump's election victory.
You're unlikely to hear Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) investors cheering either.
The world's second-biggest crypto slid 1.5% overnight to be trading for US$1,955. This puts the Ethereum price down a sharp 60.5% since the token notched its own record high of US$4,954 on 25 August last year.
So, what's going on?
Image source: Getty Images
Bitcoin price losing institutional support
When the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) gave the green light to Bitcoin spot ETFs in January 2024, most analysts expected this to bring stability and ongoing growth to the notoriously volatile crypto
And for a while it did, as prices became less dependent on more fickle retail traders.
But over the past months, the influx of money that sent the Bitcoin price to new heights has been flowing the other way.
According to Bloomberg, some US$8.5 billion has exited US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs since 10 October. And futures exposure to Bitcoin on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) was reported to be down by around 66% since late 2024.
"The market structure really broke down on October 10. We've never seen this steady and severity of a drawdown even in 2018 and 2022," Zach Lindquist, managing partner at Pure Crypto, said.
How does this compare to gold?
Unlike the 'digital gold' many had expected it to be, Bitcoin has not held up as a hedge against volatile stock markets, inflation, or concerns of US dollar debasement.
Indeed, the gold price remains at U$4,970 per ounce today. While that's down 8.2% from gold's all-time high of US$5,417 per ounce on 28 January, the gold price remains up more than 69% over 12 months.
The Bitcoin price, on the other hand, is now down more than 30% since this time last year.
