October is usually a month for innocent frights and fun scares, but for Bitcoin investors, this month has left many holding the token legitimately fearful.
In the last 24 hours alone, the cryptocurrency king has lost nearly 7% of its value. Bitcoin is currently sitting at below $104,000 per token. That’s especially notable considering that the cryptocurrency hit an all-time high of more than $126,000 just 12 days ago.
Here’s what you need to know about Bitcoin’s most recent crash.
Bitcoin’s tumultuous 2025
Bitcoin has been on a wild ride in 2025. The token began the year with considerable faith from investors, largely due to the incoming Trump administration, which clearly favored cryptocurrencies more than any other presidential administration before it.
In the weeks surrounding Trump’s inauguration, Bitcoin spiked, going from a January low of around $91,000 to above $106,000 on the day Trump was sworn in for his second term.
But as Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs loomed and roiled markets in March and April, Bitcoin slumped, reaching lows of nearly $76,000 at the beginning of April.
Yet, into and over the summer, Bitcoin steadily rose. By August, it had hit a high of over $123,000, and by October 5 of this year, it had hit an all-time high of $126,198.
Since that all-time high, the token’s value has been sliding—and Bitcoin’s decline has accelerated in the past 24 hours.
What’s behind this recent slide? There seem to be two main factors pulling the token lower recently.
2 events are weighing Bitcoin down
This year has been no stranger to geopolitical uncertainty. Such uncertainty can negatively impact markets, including stocks, cryptocurrencies, and other financial assets.
Throughout 2025, we’ve had the ongoing conflicts between Russia and Ukraine and Israel and Hamas. These conflicts introduce uncertainty into the world, and if there’s one thing investors hate, it’s uncertainty.
But recently, another geopolitical uncertainty has arisen: This time, not from a physical conflict but from an economic one.
Earlier this month, President Trump threatened to impose an additional 100% tariff on China after the country introduced new export controls on rare earth elements—minerals vital for industries such as technology and national security due to their importance in electronic devices.
So far, neither Trump nor China has backed down, leading investors to fear that the two largest economies on the planet may yet again raise barriers against each other. These barriers could have severe negative knock-on financial effects for both countries.
Besides the U.S.-China economic conflict, a second event seems to be weighing on Bitcoin. This one is domestic: the continuing U.S. government shutdown.
The current shutdown has now lasted 17 days and counting. It began on October 1, with Republicans and Democrats being unable to reach an agreement on funding the federal government.
One of the primary issues in the shutdown is the implementation of spending cuts. Republicans want to reduce spending on critical social services, while Democrats want to ensure that funding for healthcare subsidies is included.
Like the ongoing U.S.-China economic conflict, the continuing U.S. government shutdown breeds uncertainty, which makes investors nervous. And nervous investors tend to sell, rather than buy, in order to lock in gains and hedge against potential further losses in the future.
Gold seems to be the preferred safe haven this time
Paradoxically, investor uncertainty can sometimes benefit Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
That’s because cryptocurrencies are sometimes viewed as “safe-haven” assets. These are assets that people turn to during times of economic uncertainty, which often sends traditional stock markets down.
However—so far at least—this time around, investors seem to have gone back into the arms of a more traditional safe-haven asset: gold.
While Bitcoin is down more than 10% in the past month, the price of gold is up more than 18%. As gold rises, some investors who own cryptocurrency may choose to convert their digital token profits into physical gold.
Over the past 24 hours, during which Bitcoin has fallen nearly 7%, gold has risen by over 1.1%.
One ounce of gold is now worth $4,352—nearly an all-time high. The precious metal is up over 9.4% in the last five days alone. During that time, Bitcoin has fallen more than 9%.
Yet Bitcoin isn’t the only cryptocurrency seeing steep losses in recent days. As of the time of this writing, other major cryptocurrencies are also down significantly in the past 24 hours, including Ethereum, which has fallen more than 8%, and BNB, which has fallen 11.5%.