Bitcoin Slides 19% in February, Eyes Worst Month Since 2022
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Bitcoin (BTC-USD) is moving through one of its toughest stretches in years, with the token now tracking toward its steepest monthly decline since the crypto turmoil of 2022. The digital asset fell as much as 2.9% to $62,701 and was hovering around $63,150 at 7 a.m. in New York. With a drop of more than 19% in February, Bitcoin is on course for its worst monthly performance since June 2022, when the collapse of TerraUSD triggered a chain reaction that pulled down Three Arrows Capital and BlockFi. It is also heading toward a fifth consecutive monthly loss, which would mark its longest losing streak since 2018, a period defined by the unwinding of the initial coin offering boom.
The latest leg lower appears to be unfolding alongside broader macro stress. President Donald Trump's plan to raise global tariffs to 15% unsettled investors and weighed on equities and other higher-risk assets, and Bitcoin has been trading in step with that risk-off tone. Rachael Lucas of BTC Markets said the tariff announcement rattled risk assets broadly and that Bitcoin moved with them, underscoring that despite its digital gold narrative, it continues to behave like a risk asset when macro fear intensifies. At the same time, the aftershocks of the 2022 crisis are still playing out. The administrator for Terraform Labs has sued Jane Street Group, alleging the firm used non-public information to front-run trading tied to Terraform's collapse, while a Jane Street spokesperson described the lawsuit as desperate and a transparent attempt to extract money.
Market structure indicators suggest pressure could persist. Since the selloff began in October, Bitcoin has broken through multiple support levels and is approaching what some analysts view as key technical thresholds. The next support area is around $60,000, a level the token nearly touched earlier this month, and it is edging closer to its 200-week moving average of $58,503. Analysts have suggested that holding above the $58,000 to $60,000 zone could help stabilize prices, while a break below that range could open the door to a deeper pullback. Meanwhile, US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs saw more than $200 million in outflows on Monday, options markets show demand for downside protection running roughly twice bullish positioning, and miners remain under strain, with Bitdeer Technologies liquidating all of its Bitcoin as average all-in mining costs sit near $80,000. Across the broader market, total crypto capitalization has fallen by more than $120 billion bet
ween Monday and Tuesday, and Ether declined as much as 2.9% to $1,812.
source: https://www.tradingview.com/news/gurufocus:1fb181534094b:0-bitcoin-slides-19-in-february-eyes-worst-month-since-2022/