Bitcoin falls below $82,000 as selling isn't letting up. Here's why stock-market investors are keeping close watch.
By Barbara KollmeyerSellers of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are not letting up on Friday.A selloff for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies showed no signs of letting up on Friday, and investors were watching closely as selling for those assets is increasingly being viewed as predictive for where the broader stock market is headed.The price of bitcoin (BTCUSD) fell over 3% on Friday to $82,980, hitting a session low of $81,618 so far and pushing deeper into April lows. On Thursday, the No. 1 cryptocurrency hit an intraday low of $86,010, the lowest level since April 21, when it hit $84,633, according to Dow Jones Market Data.Bitcoin is now more than 31% below its all-time high of $126,272, reached Oct. 6. and off 11% for the year.Losses were seen across the asset class on Friday, with Ethereum (ETHUSD) down 6%.The market has been under pressure from sellers since October, which some have blamed on profit-taking following that high.Read: Bitcoin just wiped out all of its 2025 gains. What a crypto winter could look like.Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies stumbled on Thursday as the S&P 500 SPX logged its largest intraday reversal - a 3.5% slump - since April 8, and closed down 1.6% at 6,538.76. The losses were driven by excitement that turned to disappointment over Nvidia (NVDA) earnings in midmorning during New York trading."Bitcoin, which sits at the top end of the risk spectrum, extended a losing streak that's been in motion since late October. If people have lost confidence in tech stocks, they certainly won't have the confidence to speculate on cryptocurrency," said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, in a note to clients.Some also see cryptocurrency as increasingly a litmus test for where stocks will go. U.S. stock futures (ES00) (YM00) (NQ00) indicated a choppy session ahead for Friday.According to Tom Lee, head of Fundstrat Research, the crypto market is under stress from market makers that provide liquidity for crypto that were "crippled" by the Oct. 10 selloff. He told CNBC on Thursday that the "drip" lower seen since was being caused by market makers with holes in their balance sheets, forced to sell more crypto if prices fall.In 2022 it took it took six to eight weeks for those market makers to recapitalize, and "we're six weeks this process," he said. "Crypto, bitcoin and Ethereum are in some ways a leading indicator for equities because of that unwind and now that limping and weakened liquidity."Read: Tom Lee says there were five big reasons why markets stumbled. He has familiar advice.-Barbara KollmeyerThis content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.