Markets across the globe woke up jittery after bitcoin sank to its weakest level in more than a year, dragging the wider crypto space down with it in a rough, uneasy session. Prices slipped fast, sentiment flipped faster, and traders who expected a calm February clearly didn’t get one this time.

Early trading showed bitcoin tumbling below key technical levels, adding pressure to ether and smaller tokens that were already looking tired. The global crypto market has now lost around $2 trillion since its autumn peak, a number that feels abstract until portfolios start blinking red.

Behind the move sits a mix of fear and policy nerves, including worries that a more hawkish U.S. Federal Reserve could drain liquidity. Some investors say this feels less like a quick dip and more like a reset phase, messy and slow, with nerves stretched thin.

Down on the ground, retail holders sound frustrated rather than panicked, a subtle but telling shift. “It just feels heavy,” one trader muttered, and that mood sums it up fairly well, even if the grammar’s off.

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