Bitcoin falls rapidly, and NVIDIA’s unexpected earnings report can’t alleviate panic?

The Bitcoin market appears to have entered a bear market and traders are quickly exiting the market, reflecting the intensity of panic. As of press time, the price of Bitcoin fell to $84,570, a drop of about 4% in 24 hours, and a 22.85% drop from the price high in January. According to data from CoinGlass, the price of Bitcoin fell by more than $12,000 in three days, causing more than $1 billion in leveraged long positions to evaporate.

The sell-off was linked to U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff threats, which rattled markets on Wednesday when he announced he would impose 25% tariffs on the European Union. Driven by Nvidia's better-than-expected earnings report, the U.S. stock market could only close flat on Wednesday, while the gold market fell 2.2% in two days, as more investors poured into long-term U.S. bonds for comfort.

Traders worry that many companies will struggle due to global tariff conflicts and U.S. technology export restrictions overseas, thus dampening the bullish enthusiasm built by the development of artificial intelligence.

Compared with the more traditional safe-haven asset gold, Bitcoin's volatility may be more deeply rooted in people's hearts than its safe-haven attributes, and it is easier to become a test market for selling during the current trading stage.

According to data from the SoSoValue platform, on February 25, the cumulative net outflow of U.S. Bitcoin ETFs was US$1.14 billion, setting a historical record. In the past six days, Bitcoin ETFs have experienced continuous net outflows, with the total size reaching US$2.24 billion. This is also the longest period of capital outflow since June last year.

Geoff Kendrick, global head of digital asset research at Standard Chartered Bank, expressed concern that despite institutional fund flows in the past 12 months, digital assets are still mainly driven by retail funds. The financial strength of ordinary investors is weak, or they do not have enough funds to make up for losses.

He further warned that such losses are often very large and there is no prospect of improvement. He also believes a larger decline will follow.