Bitcoin plunges to $ 114,000 due to US regulatory policy

On Friday, August 1, bitcoin BTC $115,631.14 Bitcoin -2.83% Market capitalization $2.3 trillion VOL. 24 hours $2.88 billion has dropped by 2.56% over the past day, briefly falling below $ 114,500 during trading in the morning hours in Asia on Friday. At the time of writing, the first cryptocurrency is trading around $ 114,600, according to CoinMarketCap.

After hitting an all-time high of over $ 123,000 on July 14, the price of bitcoin has corrected downward significantly and is currently awaiting a new macroeconomic trigger. The recent increase in tariffs on Asian markets by the White House also had a negative impact on price dynamics.

At the same time, bitcoin remains within a narrow range, which indicates that institutional investors are holding their positions, except for the large-scale sale of Galaxy Digital last week. According to CryptoQuant, the third major wave of profit-taking in this bull cycle has recently taken place, with profits realized at the end of July amounting to $ 6−8 billion, which is comparable to the peaks in March and December 2024. The sales were driven by «new whales» that have accumulated bitcoin over the past 155 days.

Previous waves of profit-taking were usually accompanied by market consolidation for two to four months before the next stage of growth. Analysts note that a similar trend is observed today amid a decline in risk appetite among U.S. investors.

According to James Toledano, COO of Unity Wallet, in the short term, bitcoin is likely to trade in a sideways trend until the market receives new macro signals. Rising inflationary expectations or a resumption of institutional investment could be the impetus for a new high. CryptoQuant also expects the asset to accumulate again and further breakout to a new historical high.