Bitcoin drops below $90,000 in sign of souring mood

By Rae Wee SINGAPORE (Reuters) -Bitcoin slipped below $90,000 for the first time in seven months on Tuesday in the latest sign that investor appetite for risk-taking is drying up across financial markets. The risk-sensitive cryptocurrency has erased 2025 gains and is now down nearly 30% from a peak above $126,000 in October. It traded down 2% at $89,953 in the Asia afternoon, having collapsed through chart support around $98,000 last week. Market participants said a combination of doubts around future U.S. interest rate cuts and the mood in broader markets, which have wobbled after a long rally, was dragging down crypto. "The cascading selloff is amplified by listed companies and institutions exiting their positions after piling in during the rally, compounding contagion risks across the market," said Joshua Chu, co-chair of the Hong Kong Web3 Association. "When support thins and macro uncertainty rises, confidence can erode with remarkable speed." Crypto stockpilers such as Strategy, miners such Riot Platforms and Mara Holdings and exchange Coinbase have all slid with the souring mood. Markets were down across Asia on Tuesday, with particular pressure on technology shares in Japan and South Korea. [MKTS/GLOB] Cryptocurrency ether has also been under pressure for months and has lost nearly 40% of its value from a peak above $4,955 in August to trade 1% lower at $2,997 on Tuesday. A bitcoin drawdown at the start of the year presaged a broader selloff that hit equities in April, after the announcement of U.S. tariffs, leading to some nerves that the tumble in crypto could be a leading indicator or ripple outward. "All in all sentiment is pretty low in crypto and has been since the leverage wipeout of October," said Matthew Dibb, chief investment officer at Astronaut Capital. "The next level of support is $75k, which could hit if volatility in markets remains high." (Writing and additional reporting by Tom WestbrookEditing by Shri Navaratnam)

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