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Bitcoin tumbles back below $88,000 as gains evaporate as quickly as they formed
It was a blink and you missed it rally as continued deflation in the AI trade sent the Nasdaq sharply lower, dragging crypto along with it.
Updated Dec 17, 2025, 4:21 p.m. Published Dec 17, 2025, 4:11 p.m.
What to know:
- Wednesday's early U.S. rally in crypto suffered a near-instant reversal, sending bitcoin back to the $87,000 area minutes after it had jumped above $90,000.
- Artificial intelligence favorites Nvidia, Broadcom, and Oracle were sharply lower, dragging the Nasdaq down by more than 1%.
Crypto markets suffered major whipsaw action in morning U.S. trade, with bitcoin in the space of a few minutes rallying from around $87,000 to above $90,000 and then back to the $87,000 area.
The largest crypto was recently trading at $87,300, down by 0.5% over the past 24 hours after being higher by more than 3% minutes earlier.
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The quick decline happened alongside sharp losses for artificial intelligence-related stocks, with Nvidia, Broadcom and Oracle suffering 3%-6% drops. The tech-centric Nasdaq was lower by more than 1%.
Helping to deflate AI sentiment, Blue Owl Capital was reported to have pulled out of funding a $10 billion deal for an Oracle data center in Michigan.
The sudden price swings triggered over $190 million in liquidations across crypto derivatives markets in the past four hours, CoinGlass data shows. The volatile action hit $72 million in long positions, seeking to profit from rising prices, and $121 million in shorts, betting on a decline.
Shrinking liquidity at the margin is the main culprit behind bitcoin's directionless trading, making it vulnerable to any outside pressure, Hunter Rogers, co-founder of the bitcoin yield protocol TeraHash, said in a note.
"I think we’re now seeing an exhausted market," he said. "In that environment, even mild selling activity pushes the market lower."
He added that BTC needs to hold the $80,000-$85,000 area as support, which could decide if fresh lows or a more sustainable rebound come next.
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