Crypto Market Rocked by Mining Disruptions, Leveraged Liquidations, and Regulatory Uncertainty

The crypto industry has entered the week under sharp downside pressure, driven by mining disruptions, leveraged liquidations, and renewed regulatory uncertainty in key regions.

Since the start of the week, Bitcoin has retreated roughly 4 to 5 percent in 24 hours, sliding from above 90000 dollars to around 85500 dollars after authorities in China shut down an estimated 1 point 3 to 2 gigawatts of underground mining capacity in Xinjiang, equivalent to about 8 to 10 percent of global Bitcoin hashrate being taken offline in a single move. This shock helped trigger over 658 million dollars in crypto liquidations in one day, with about 583 million of that in long positions across major exchanges. Bitcoin accounted for about 170 million dollars of those long liquidations, while Ethereum saw roughly 207 million dollars forced out, and XRP about 15 and a half million. [1]

Altcoins have followed Bitcoin lower. XRP has fallen about 7 percent in 24 hours to trade around 1 dollar 88, breaking below the 2 dollar psychological level and its 100 week moving average, with trading volumes nearly doubling to about 3 point 9 billion dollars as selling intensified. [1] Ethereum has dropped about 6 to 7 percent to below 3000 dollars as more than 28500 ETH, worth over 80 million dollars, was offloaded by large holders in a matter of hours, including a single 14,585 ETH sale of about 42 point 7 million dollars tied to a Lido cofounder. [9]

Sentiment has flipped decisively defensive. The widely watched Crypto Fear and Greed Index has sunk into extreme fear and has stayed there since mid November, a stark contrast with the greed and euphoria that accompanied earlier 2025 rallies fueled by spot ETF inflows and institutional buying. [1][2]

Yet structural trends beneath the volatility remain intact. Analysts note that 2025 price action is increasingly shaped by institutional cost bases, ETF driven demand, and clearer stablecoin and market structure rules rather than the old four year retail boom and bust cycle. [2][3][4] Large traders such as Doctor Profit still buy dips around 86000 dollars, eyeing potential retests near 97000 to 107000 even as they warn of poor long term risk reward and the risk of a deeper correction ahead. [5] Consumer behavior continues to favor simpler, utility driven digital payment and exchange services, pushing industry leaders to streamline products while they manage leverage, regulatory risk, and mining disruptions. [3][6]

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This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI