What is the real reason why the cryptocurrency market has fallen by $140 billion in time?

Cryptocurrency markets have crashed again in a pattern that has become increasingly familiar in recent weeks.

The total market capitalization is in danger of falling below $3 trillion after $140 billion has been drained from the digital asset space in the past few hours.

The index fell to a three-week low of $3.02 trillion in late trading on Monday, with Bitcoin leading the decline in what was expected to be a volatile week. BTC lost support at $90,000 and fell to $85,200, its lowest level since the massive leverage flash on December 2nd, dropping nearly $5,000 in a few hours. The asset has yet to recover and was trading just below $86,000 in Tuesday morning’s Asian trading session.

Crypto analysts also have their say

Analyst No Limit offered a different bearish outlook, claiming that the collapse was caused by China “re-tightening regulations on domestic Bitcoin mining” and forcing local miners offline. The analyst added that the Bank of Japan will cause Bitcoin to crash this week.

Meanwhile, analyst Sycoderic once again pointed to the derivatives market, specifically high open interest, as the culprit. Today they said the cut was the biggest jump in OI in six weeks, before adding:

“Essentially, everyone is feeling the pinch of a downtrending market, so it’s becoming very acceptable to be bearish. Traders are chasing every drop with shorts, creating an environment where short liquidity builds up over and over again.”

According to Deribit, a strike price of $85,000 would result in an OI of $2 billion. Short sellers can hedge by selling spot or futures when prices fall toward exercise, potentially amplifying the downside.

“Bitcoin market stress is currently at its highest since the 2022 bear market,” said analyst James Check.

He said there were about $100 billion in unrealized losses, a declining hash rate, 60% of ETF inflows sitting behind the scenes, and some government bonds trading below net asset value.

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Meanwhile, analyst “Skew” expressed his opinion on the current state of the market.

$BTC
As for the market, here are some things to note

First, the lack of actual trading and lack of directional positioning makes it seem like Bart-like price movements are continuing.

Secondly, the obvious imbalance between demand and supply between these verts (high and…). pic.twitter.com/Yok9R87wX8

— Skew Δ (@52kskew) December 15, 2025

Delays in US virtual currency bill

The main reason for dumping is likely to be the delay in enacting the Cryptocurrency Market Structure Act in the United States.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Senate Banking Committee said Monday that there will be no market structure increases this year and that enactment of key bipartisan legislation will be delayed until Congress reconvenes in early 2026.

“The commission continues negotiations and expects a price increase in early 2026,” they explained.

The crypto industry had widely expected further progress on the bill, which would give the CFTC powers over the spot market, by the end of the year.