Bitcoin tumbled below $86,000 Monday, continuing a familiar pattern of underperformance during U.S. trading hours.

Major cryptocurrencies slid during the morning session in the U.S., reinforcing a now well-established trend of relative weakness while American stocks trade. Bitcoin, which had held near $90,000 overnight, dropped to $85,600 by early afternoon Eastern Time (ET), down 3.6% over 24 hours.

At first glance, the selloff may signal weak demand from American investors. However, some analysts point to the mechanics of spot bitcoin ETFs, which began trading in January 2024, as a possible factor. According to Bespoke Investment, “Since the iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) began trading, had you only held it after hours (buy the close, sell the next open), it’s up 222%. Had you only held intraday (buy the open, sell the close), it’s down 40.5%.”

Crypto equities also started the week sharply lower. Strategy (MSTR) and Circle (CRCL) fell roughly 7%, while Coinbase (COIN) dropped more than 5%. Trading platforms Robinhood (HOOD) and eToro (ETOR) saw smaller declines near 2%, and Gemini (GEMI), which surged last week on approval to add prediction markets, retreated 10%.

Miners, closely tied to the data-center and AI infrastructure themes, continued their downward trajectory. CleanSpark (CLSK), Cipher Mining (CIFR), Hut 8 (HUT), and TeraWulf (WULF) each posted losses exceeding 10%. By contrast, the Nasdaq and S&P 500 experienced only modest declines, highlighting crypto-specific weakness.

Macro outlook
Investors are closely watching U.S. employment data this week for October and November, which could influence whether the Federal Reserve continues rate cuts in early 2026. Globally, the Bank of Japan is expected to raise its benchmark interest rate for the first time in nearly a year, while the Bank of England and European Central Bank hold policy meetings later this week.

Support levels and outlook
Despite Monday’s volatility, bitcoin remains range-bound between late November lows of $80,000 and early December highs of $94,000. Exchange order book data shows buy orders concentrated around $85,000 on the BTC-USDT pair, potentially providing near-term support.

Wintermute OTC trader Jasper De Maere noted that as hopes for a year-end crypto rally fade, investors are reducing risk, but selling has remained orderly. “The failure of a clean year-end rally has introduced short-term fragility, but price action so far reflects consolidation and position-cleaning rather than outright risk aversion,” he said. “This still looks more like late-year digestion than a structural regime shift.”