Bitcoin News Today: Bitcoin Slides Below $88,000 as Nasdaq Futures Weaken, Dragging Altcoins Lower

Bitcoin reversed early gains from the Asian trading session and slipped below $88,000 on Monday, tracking renewed weakness in U.S. equity futures and weighing on the broader crypto market.The pullback interrupted a tentative recovery attempt that briefly pushed prices above $90,000, underscoring the market’s sensitivity to macro signals and declining risk appetite.Bitcoin and Major Altcoins Retreat After Asian Session RallyBitcoin fell to around $87,600, reversing gains made earlier in Asia, according to CoinDesk data. The decline rippled across major altcoins, with:Ethereum slipping to around $2,960XRP falling near $1.88Solana easing to roughly $125Dogecoin also trading lowerThe CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20) retreated to 2,726, erasing gains from earlier in the session after briefly climbing to 2,789.Nasdaq Futures Decline Reinforces BTC–Equity CorrelationThe crypto sell-off coincided with renewed weakness in U.S. equity futures. Contracts tied to the Nasdaq 100 were down about 0.5%, signaling a cautious start to the Wall Street session.Market maker Wintermute has previously noted that Bitcoin and the Nasdaq tend to exhibit a strong positive correlation, particularly during equity market downtrends—an effect once again evident in Monday’s price action.Futures Traders Reduce Leverage as Open Interest FallsThe pullback prompted traders to scale back leveraged exposure. Data from CoinGlass shows global Bitcoin futures open interest declined to approximately 533,000 BTC, down from around 540,000 BTC earlier in the day.Open interest had risen from 524,000 BTC during the brief rally toward $90,000, suggesting the latest move reflects risk reduction rather than aggressive new short positioning.U.S. Session Selling Pressures Bitcoin PerformanceAnalysts at Laser Digital highlighted a recurring pattern of underperformance during U.S. trading hours.“Both BTC and ETH have been down more than 3% during U.S. hours recently, with strength concentrated in Asian sessions,” the firm said in a Monday note, attributing the trend largely to year-end tax-loss harvesting, as crypto has underperformed many global asset classes in 2025.Sideways to Lower Near Term, Bullish Longer TermDespite near-term weakness, some analysts remain constructive on Bitcoin’s broader outlook.John Glover, chief investment officer at crypto lender Ledn, said Bitcoin’s longer-term chart structure still points higher.“The Bitcoin price chart looks very promising for higher prices in the future, but less certain in the near term,” Glover said. “I expect sideways to slightly lower trading in the coming weeks or months, with opportunities to add long exposure between $71,000 and $84,000.”