Bitcoin experienced significant adverse price movements on Tuesday, reaching new lows just under $101,000. The asset is now on the brink of its first price drop below $100,000 since June, prompting some whales and treasury companies to begin offloading their holdings. Certain analysts believe this marks the official start of a bear market.
Corporate Actions and Whale Activity
Sequans Communications, a Bitcoin treasury firm, announced that it had redeemed 50% of its convertible debt by selling 970 units of Bitcoin. This strategic asset reallocation reduced its total outstanding debt from $189 million to $94.5 million, and its Bitcoin stash decreased from 3,234 units to 2,264 units.
In a related bearish development that intensified immediate selling pressure, whales reportedly offloaded $272 million worth of Bitcoin, as reported by analyst Ali Martinez.
Recent Market Performance and Bear Market Concerns
These recent actions have contributed to the overall negative sentiment in the crypto industry over the past week. Bitcoin had previously challenged the $116,000 resistance level last Tuesday, only to be rejected and subsequently driven lower.
The beginning of the current business week has been particularly challenging for Bitcoin. The cryptocurrency was halted at $111,000 on Sunday and has since dropped by $10,000, reaching just under $101,000 hours ago. This represents a retracement of approximately 20% since its all-time high, which was marked less than a month ago.
In light of these developments, The Kobeissi Letter has categorized the current market trend as the beginning of a bear market.
BREAKING: Bitcoin officially enters bear market territory, now down -20% since its record high seen on October 6th.
We are living in the most exciting market in history. pic.twitter.com/EHoyb8xsZK
— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) November 4, 2025
Altcoin Performance
Altcoins have experienced an even more significant downturn over the past day. TAO has led this adverse trend with a substantial 18% decline, followed by other notable cryptocurrencies such as IP, APT, KAS, OKB, TON, and SOL.
Larger-cap cryptocurrencies have also suffered considerably, with ETH dropping by 7%, XRP by 6%, BNB by 8%, and SOL by 8.5%.