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Citi Points to Key Bitcoin Levels After Losing All Post-Election Gains
On Tuesday, Bitcoin lost all the gains it had made following President Donald Trump’s election victory in early November 2024. The sell-off continued on Wednesday, when the world’s largest cryptocurrency briefly fell below $72,000.
The cryptocurrency has dropped about 42% from its record high of over $126,000 reached in October last year and is clearly in a bear market.
Bitcoin surged in 2025 amid hopes for more favorable regulation from the Trump administration, inflows into spot ETFs, and institutional adoption. However, the asset has been in free fall since reaching its record high, with losses accelerating in 2026.
“Long position liquidations and sensitivity to declines in equity markets and geopolitical risks have continued to weigh on Bitcoin and crypto markets,” Citi Research analyst Alex Saunders said on Tuesday.
“Since October 10 last year, we have observed a noticeable decline in inflows into U.S. spot ETFs, which we believe are a major source of potential new capital in this space. This lack of new demand coincided with long-time holders becoming concerned about Bitcoin’s cyclical weakness,” Saunders said.
Approaching Key Levels
On Wednesday, Bitcoin fell 5% to a session low of $71,913.4, the lowest level since early November 2024.
“We believe Bitcoin prices are approaching key levels. We are now below our estimate of the average entry price into U.S. spot ETFs of $81.6k and close to the roughly $70k level seen before the U.S. elections,” Saunders from Citi said.
According to the analyst, landmark U.S. legislation passed by the House of Representatives in July 2025 and currently stalled in the Senate is seen as “a catalyst for renewed investor interest.”
“We have seen some progress on the bill in the Senate, which must be aligned with the CLARITY Act passed by the House earlier this year. The Financial Committee released a draft, though it was not met with unanimous approval, and the committee vote was postponed. The Senate Agriculture Committee has also advanced its version of the bill,” Saunders noted.
“Positive news on the regulatory front would be an important catalyst for improving sentiment and inflows, in our view,” he added, citing historical examples such as increased ETF inflows after the U.S. elections and the passage of the Genius Act in July 2025.
No ‘Signs That Something Is Broken in Crypto’
Analysts also believe that Bitcoin’s current downturn indicates nothing more than typical bull and bear market cycles.
“Bitcoin’s recent price movement is not a sign that something is broken in crypto — it reflects where we are in the broader macroeconomic cycle. We clearly overdid it earlier by forecasting a straight-line move upward, which was never realistic,” said Gil Rosen, co-founder of the Blockchain Builders fund, in a comment to Investing.com.
“What followed was not a crypto-driven collapse, but rather a sell-off driven by geopolitics, tariffs, and policy uncertainty. As institutional capital has taken the lead, Bitcoin is now viewed much more as a risk asset, so when macro conditions become unstable, capital exits, and the price feels it,” Rosen added.
See also: "Bitcoin Will Not Repeat the 2018 and 2022 Scenarios — K33 Analysts"
