Bitcoin Slides Below $88,000 as Macroeconomic Shifts and Investor Concerns Trigger Sell-Off
December 1, 2025 – Bitcoin prices tumbled to a low of $83,000 today amid a confluence of factors including rising Japanese government bond yields, shifting expectations for global monetary policy, and renewed investor anxieties surrounding potential Bitcoin sales. The downturn erased nearly $1 billion in leveraged bets, according to Bloomberg data.
The yenS appreciation against the dollar is contributing to the pressure, raising the possibility of an unwinding of the yen carry trade, which historically weighs on global risk assets, including cryptocurrencies. “Markets are starting to price in the possibility of an accelerated unwinding of the yen carry trade, which historically tends to weigh on global risk assets, including cryptocurrencies,” explained CoinEx Chief Analyst Jeff Koh.
Investor focus has shifted to the direction of global monetary policy. Initial panic over falling expectations for a US interest rate cut in December has given way to growing anticipation of potential cuts by the US Federal Reserve. Concurrently, the Bank of Japan faces increasing pressure to raise interest rates.”There was panic when expectations for a US interest rate cut in December fell to 30%, but now there is a growing expectation that the US Federal Reserve (Fed) will cut interest rates again. On the other hand, there is a growing possibility that the bank of Japan will raise interest rates,” said Karim Dandasy, an over-the-counter (OTC) trader at Flowdesk.
Adding to the negative sentiment, Strategy, a significant Bitcoin holder, announced it has allocated $1.4 billion (approximately 220 billion yen) to reserves to cover future dividends and interest payments. The move, intended to alleviate fears of forced Bitcoin sales, failed to reassure investors, and the company’s stock price dropped as much as 12%.
Further illustrating the shift in investor sentiment, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs experienced $70 million in outflows last week, totaling approximately $4.6 billion in outflows over the past month. The iShares Bitcoin Trust accounted for the majority of the withdrawals, marking its fifth consecutive week of outflows since its January 2024 listing.
