Bitcoin News Today: Whale Exodus and Fed Hesitation Send Bitcoin Crashing Below $110k

Bitcoin's price has plunged below $110,000, marking a turbulent week for cryptocurrencies as fading investor conviction, macroeconomic headwinds, and aggressive selling by large holders have compounded downward pressure. The decline, which follows failed attempts to reclaim key resistance levels, underscores growing uncertainty in a market already reeling from the Federal Reserve's hawkish stance and geopolitical tensions, according to a Yahoo report.

The collapse in Bitcoin's price has been exacerbated by renewed profit-taking from long-term holders (LTHs), who have historically acted as a significant source of overhead supply. On-chain data reveals that wallets attributed to early adopters, such as Owen Gunden's 10,000 BTC holding, have aggressively offloaded assets, depositing over 2,587 BTC—worth $290 million—onto exchanges like Kraken, according to a Yahoo article. This activity, coupled with a $471 million outflow from spot Bitcoin ETFs on October 29, signals a shift in investor sentiment, according to an FXStreet forecast.

Macro factors have further amplified the sell-off. The Federal Reserve's October rate cut, while anticipated, failed to provide the bullish catalyst traders had hoped for. Chair Jerome Powell's remarks that a December rate cut is "not a foregone conclusion" have left markets in limbo, with the U.S. government shutdown compounding uncertainty over economic data reliability, as reported by an FXStreet article. Meanwhile, U.S.-China trade negotiations, which briefly offered hope for easing tensions, did not translate into meaningful support for risk assets like Bitcoin. Despite commitments to resume soybean purchases and resolve rare-earth disputes, the broader macroeconomic climate remains a drag, according to a Coinpedia article.

The price action has also triggered significant liquidations. Over $1.1 billion in crypto derivatives were liquidated in the 24 hours following the Fed's October meeting, with Bitcoin longs accounting for $190 million of the losses, as the FXStreet article noted. The asset now trades near $108,590, teetering above critical support at $105,000. Analysts warn that without a decisive recovery above $110,000, further corrections could follow, especially if institutional outflows persist, as the earlier Yahoo report noted.

In contrast, the DeFi sector has seen a surge in buyback activity as projects attempt to stabilize token prices. Ether.fi DAO, for instance, has proposed a $50 million ETHFI buyback, activating only when the token trades below $3. This strategy, part of a broader trend among DeFi protocols to use treasury funds for price support, aims to reduce circulating supply and bolster investor confidence. While such initiatives may provide localized relief, they remain a counterpoint to the broader crypto market's struggles.

Bitcoin's path to recovery now hinges on multiple factors: sustained accumulation by institutional players, a resolution to the Fed's policy uncertainty, and renewed confidence among retail and whale holders. For now, the market remains in a fragile equilibrium, with each move toward $115,000 met by renewed selling pressure—a pattern that has defined much of 2024 and 2025, as the Yahoo report observed.