Bitcoin falls below $105,000, gold hits ATH as fear grips the markets

Bitcoin fell below $105,000 and gold rose to a new all-time high (ATH) as ‘extreme fear’ grips the crypto market.

The sell-off followed emerging credit problems at several U.S. regional banks, raising concerns about broader systemic risks.

US regional lenders Zions Bancorp and Western Alliance Bancorp announced that they have been victims of fraud involving loans to funds that invest in distressed commercial mortgages.

This followed the inflation of loans at subprime auto lender Tricolor Holdings and the collapse of First Brands Group, which owed more than $10 billion to some of the largest Wall Street banks.

US President Donald Trump added to the somber mood when he… confirmed that there is a trade war with China.

The The Crypto Fear & Greed Index fell six points to “extreme fear” territory with a reading of 22. That is down from 64 last week, when there was still “greed” in the market.

Crypto Fear & Greed Index (Source: alternative.i)

Crypto Liquidations Cross $1 Billion as Bitcoin Tumbles

Bitcoin price has fallen more than 5% in the past 24 hours, pushing weekly losses to more than 13%. facts from CoinMarketCap.

BTC price (Source: CoinMarketCap)

It is trading at $104,818.37 at 4:24 a.m. EST.

The rest of the market followed BTC’s lead, with its total market capitalization plummeting by more than 5%.

Traders took a hit, pushing the market’s 24-hour liquidations to over $1.1 billion, data from CoinGlass shows. Most of this amount came from long positions, which are bets that prices will rise, for Bitcoin and Ethereum. A total of $935.64 million was liquidated by bullish trades.

Gold rises to a new ATH

Gold, which over the years has been investors’ best hedge against market uncertainty and inflation, saw its price reach another record high, this time at $4,380.79 per ounce.

TradingView data shows that gold prices have risen 25% since August 29.

Gold price (Source: Trading view)

The rising price has also pushed gold’s market capitalization to a record high of $30 trillion, pushing the commodity first trump card in history to reach this milestone.

Noted Bitcoin critic and gold investor Peter Schiff recently turned to X to comment on gold’s outperformance versus Bitcoin, saying that “Gold is more likely to reach $1 million than Bitcoin.”

Gold is more likely to reach $1 million than Bitcoin.

— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) October 16, 2025

That’s after he said long-term Bitcoin investors are “in denial” amid the “de-bitcoinization” trade.

“Gold will eat Bitcoin’s lunch,” he says wrote on X. “HODLers, sell your fool’s gold now and buy the real gold, or go bankrupt,” Schiff added.

Crypto ETFs Lose Over $500 Million

The capital rotation out of crypto is also seen in spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs (exchange traded funds).

Investors pulled out more than $530.9 million from BTC products, according to the latest trading session Farside Investor facts. The majority of these net daily outflows came from ARK Invest’s ARKB, which saw $275.2 million disappear from its reserves.

The next largest outflow in the US spot Bitcoin ETF market was recorded by Fidelity’s FBTC, with an outflow of $132 million.

Other spot BTC ETFs, including BlackRock’s IBIT, Bitwise’s BITB, VanEck’s HODL, and both of Grayscale’s products all saw outflows that day as well.

IBIT’s outflows were $29.5 million, while BITB and HODL saw negative flows of $20.6 million and $6.1 million, respectively. Meanwhile, Grayscale’s GBTC saw outflows of $45 million and $22.5 million left its BTC ETF.

Place Ethereum ETFs saw lighter outflows of just $56.8 million, while Grayscale’s ETHE lost $69 million in outflows.

Fidelity’s FETH, Bitwise’s ETHW, Franklin’s EZET and Grayscale’s ETH also saw capital disappear from their reserves. BlackRock’s ETHA was the only fund to record positive flows, adding $46.9 million to reserves.

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