Bitcoin has hit its lowest price since June. How long will the decline last?
Experts have identified the reasons for the decline and explained how deep the cryptocurrency price could fall. 
RBC-Crypto does not provide investment advice; this material is published for informational purposes only. Cryptocurrency is a volatile asset that can lead to financial losses.
The Bitcoin (BTC) price fell below $104,000 for the first time in three months (excluding the flash crash to $102,000 on Binance on the night of October 11). In the last 24 hours alone, the leading cryptocurrency has fallen by more than 6%, and by 14% over the past week.
BTC/USD
105,880 -5,740 (-5.14%) OKH Oct 17 14:59:42 1d 3d 1m 3m 1g 5l rbc.group
The top 100 cryptocurrencies are in the red. Market capitalization, which stood at over $4 trillion just seven days ago, has fallen to $3.5 trillion.
Investor fears
The crypto market is under pressure following the intensifying trade war between the US and China, which could drive up inflation and delay the Federal Reserve's rate cut, says Roman Nekrasov, a digital IT consultant. Investors' fears of rising inflation are growing, and, according to the expert, a direct reflection of this is the record rise in gold prices: in 2025, it will rise 50%, surpassing Bitcoin.
Cryptocurrency is “logically falling” amid US President Donald Trump's statements about possible new tariffs and a decline in the US stock market, according to VG GROUP Managing Partner Vagiz Nurullov. He estimates that Bitcoin will currently fluctuate between $102,000 and $111,000, with the potential for a drop to $99,000 “to drain liquidity” (whales manipulating prices to trigger stop orders en masse and squeeze smaller players out of the market).
“Disappointed and deceived”
At the same time, infrastructure outages at Binance over the weekend impacted the market, says Nekrasov. He adds that platform issues and mass liquidations of long positions exacerbated the panic.
“Unfortunately, events like what happened on Friday leave their mark. The market suffered enormous damage to its reputation and also didn't cope well with the stress test of the system and market makers. Currently, there's no consensus on the causes of this incident. Many people are disappointed and want to forget trading, quit futures trading; many feel deceived,” Nurullov said.
The positive remains
Under pressure from these factors, Bitcoin could fall below $100,000, but most likely won't go below $98,000, Nekrasov believes. Ethereum (ETH), he estimates, could lose its summer gains and fall to $3,300.
At the same time, fundamental factors remain positive: cash flow continues, institutional investor interest in Bitcoin and ETH is growing, and these market participants aren't selling at a loss like retail traders, the expert says. He predicts the downturn will likely last about a month, but by Thanksgiving in the US at the end of November, a recovery and overall market growth will begin.
Source: cryptonews.net
