Crypto Market Mayhem: Bitcoin Nosedives To $77,000 Amid Speculation DOJ Is Offloading Its BTC

The price of Bitcoin crashed as low as 77,494 on Monday in a worsening drawdown that saw the foremost crypto plunge 5.6% as financial markets reacted to growing concerns over inflation and a potential recession in the United States, sparked by President Trump’s comments over the weekend.

When asked on Sunday whether he expects a recession this year, Trump refused to rule out one.

“I hate to predict things like that,” he posited, adding that there will be a “transition” phase as the economy digests his enormous tariffs on China, Canada, and Mexico. Trump’s actions regarding the tariffs, including delays and modifications in the extent of them, have rocked markets in recent weeks.

Bitcoin had rebounded slightly to $79,290 as of this writing. The top crypto has been down 14.2% over the past week, trading at levels not seen since before November’s U.S. election. The tariffs and the fallout from the much-anticipated White House Crypto Summit fuel the sharp downward move.

This has sent the well-followed crypto fear and green index, which measures trader sentiment, to a multi-year low reading of 17 — which indicates ‘extreme fear’ — in its lowest level since mid-2023.

Meanwhile, the Ethereum blockchain’s ether (ETH) dipped below the $2,000 mark, to trade near its weakest price since November 2023, down around 8.2% over the last 24 hours.

Is The DOJ Dumping BTC?

It’s worth mentioning that David Bailey, a prominent Bitcoin evangelist and BTC Inc. CEO, has claimed that Bitcoin’s price drop might be linked to the US Department of Justice’s (DOJ) liquidation activities.

“If the DOJ has been liquidating America’s Bitcoin with haste (in defiance of the President) ever since getting court approval to do so 3 months ago… then Bitcoin’s price action makes perfect sense,” Bailey, who was one of the attendees at the White House Crypto Summit, quipped in a March 10 X post.

Bailey indicated in a follow-up statement that there could be more clarity on the matter in the coming days. His remark comes after President Trump issued an executive order to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve using seized assets.

Traders are now in a wait-and-watch mode as they approach the coming months, mainly observing macroeconomic data and decisions for signals on further positioning.