Bitcoin, Ether, and Crypto-Tied Stocks Drop as Profit-Taking Persists
By Nisha Gopalan | Published August 18, 2025, 08:53 AM EDT
Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies edged lower on Monday as investors continued to take profits following a recent surge that saw record highs across the crypto market. The pullback reflects a cautious mood after last week’s rally that pushed prices to unprecedented levels.
Bitcoin, the largest digital currency by market capitalization, experienced a significant climb earlier last week, hitting an all-time high of $124,500 early Thursday. However, amid ongoing profit-taking, its price slipped approximately 2% in early Monday trading, settling near $115,179. Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, also declined by about 3%, with its price dropping to roughly $4,335. Meanwhile, XRP, another popular digital asset, saw a sharper decrease of around 4%.
The recent rally was fueled in part by positive regulatory developments. Earlier this month, former President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at expanding investment options for workers’ retirement accounts. This order is intended to allow employees to allocate portions of their 401(k) retirement savings into cryptocurrencies and other alternative assets, which helped boost optimism surrounding digital currencies.
Despite the encouraging regulatory sign, shares of companies heavily exposed to the crypto sector saw declines in premarket trading Monday. Software firm MicroStrategy (ticker: MSTR), known for its aggressive bitcoin treasury strategy, along with crypto miners MARA Holdings (MARA) and Riot Platforms (RIOT), were all down roughly 2%. Coinbase Global (COIN), one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, also dropped about 2%.
Market watchers noted that the current dip could be a healthy correction following the sharp gains seen recently. Profit-taking from short-term traders often accompanies high volatility assets like cryptocurrencies, creating price swings amid otherwise positive sentiment.
As the crypto market remains closely tied to broader investor appetite and regulatory signals, participants will be monitoring upcoming policy announcements and market trends for further direction.
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