Bitcoin experienced a sharp decline on February 23, breaking below the $65,000 mark to hit a low of $64,232.8 per coin. As of the latest update, Bitcoin was trading at $64,749.3, down more than 5%.

The broader cryptocurrency market also trended downward. Ethereum, XRP, and BNB each fell over 6%, while HYPE dropped more than 7% and SOL declined over 8%.

According to data from Coinglass, more than 130,000 traders were liquidated across the cryptocurrency market in the past 24 hours, with total liquidations amounting to $458 million. Of that, long position liquidations accounted for $430 million, while short position liquidations totaled $28.435 million.

Since the beginning of the year, cryptocurrencies have continued to fall, fueling pessimism and triggering repeated sell-offs. Coinglass data indicates that the Crypto Fear & Greed Index currently stands at 6, down 2 points from the previous day, signaling extreme fear among investors.

Bitcoin miner Bitdeer disclosed that its total Bitcoin holdings have dropped to zero, and all mining output for the week has been sold. Santiment data showed that on February 22, XRP recorded its largest realized loss since November 2022, with weekly realized losses reaching $1.93 billion, indicating concentrated panic selling among holders.

Mike Novogratz, founder and CEO of Galaxy, recently stated that Bitcoin's recent plunge reflects a major shift in the industry. He suggested that as more institutions with varying risk appetites enter the crypto space, the "speculative era" of cryptocurrency investing will gradually come to an end.

Carmelo Alemán, a trader and analyst at CryptoQuant, believes Bitcoin has entered a bear market and that the majority of market participants will face losses. Peter Schiff, often referred to as "Dr. Doom," openly labeled cryptocurrencies a "Ponzi scheme," arguing that they lack real value and pose a serious threat to the U.S. economy if left unchecked.