Experts are warning people that Bitcoin is experiencing a ‘heliocentric reckoning’ after its historic high is followed by a major crash.

The cryptocurrency has fallen to its lowest point since November 2024, with its plummet having wiped almost half a trillion dollars from the market.

In January, Bitcoin hit a new record high of $108,000 but is now on a steep decline, currently sitting at $89,000.

Bitcoin shares have suffered a steep decline (Namthip Muanthongthae/Getty Images)

While the initial spike in the share value appeared to coincide with President Donald Trump’s election victory, the decline also seems to be related to the time he’s spent in the White House so far.

According to one expert, the latest fall for Bitcoin is due to Trump having not yet fulfilled any of his major promises after a month in office.

Speaking to The Independent, Petr Kozyakov, who is the co-founder and chief executive of the crypto payment infrastructure platform Mercuryo, said: “While the new Trump administration in the US has been vocal in its pro-crypto stance, the industry is still waiting for this to manifest in a tangible way in the form of measures such as a mooted Bitcoin Strategic Reserve.”

Kozyakov went on to say: “The cryptocurrency market is having a heliocentric reckoning as bitcoin slides below $89,000 amid a faltering US stock market.

“Rather than being at the centre of the financial universe, bitcoin’s place remains far out on the periphery as an ultra risk-on asset to be readily sold at the very hint of troubles ahead.”

In other crypto news, Bybit, which is a crypto exchange firm, fell victim to the largest digital heist in history after reporting over a billion dollars had gone missing.

The cryptocurrency hit a record high just last month (Anna Barclay/Getty Images)

Last Friday (February 21), a transfer of the cryptocurrency Ethereum was ‘manipulated’ by hackers who were able to transfer the huge sum to an unidentified address, according to Bybit.

The company went on to say that the incident led to a spike in withdrawal requests.

Bybit has said that its ‘swift and transparent crisis management ensured that the crypto market remained stable, with no significant price volatility’.

In a statement, the firm continued: “Despite the significant scale of the hack, Bybit’s 1:1 reserve guarantee ensured that client assets remained fully intact.

“Bybit CEO Ben Zhou reassured users that Bybit is solvent and can cover the loss, emphasizing that all client assets are backed on a one-to-one basis. This guarantee demonstrates Bybit’s financial stability and commitment to user security.” 

President Donald Trump has responded to Elon Musk’s plan for thousands of dollars in ‘DOGE dividends’ to be refunded to Americans.

Musk made the suggestion along with his supporters to cut a check for Americans for the ‘savings’ that have allegedly been made by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

And it looks like Trump is a fan of the idea.

Speaking at a conference in Miami on Wednesday (February 19), the president backed the Tesla boss’ plan to give 20% of the money saved straight back into the pockets of the American taxpayers.

President Trump appears to be in favor of Musk’s idea (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Trump said: “The numbers are incredible, Elon. So many billions, it’s billions, hundreds of billions. We’re thinking of giving 20% back to the American citizens and 20% to pay back debt, pay down debt.

“By doing this, Americans will be telling us where there’s waste, they’ll be reporting it themselves.”

So far, it hasn’t been made clear where the remaining 60% of savings will go.

Most of the federal spendings reductions made by DOGE have come from canceling contracts and making mass layoffs of government staff.

The organization, which is not technically a government department and is instead an outside advisor, is facing a slew of lawsuits.

Jessica Riedl, who is a senior fellow at right-leaning think tank Manhattan Institute, spoke to The Washington Post where she said: “Given the very small share of federal spending that has been reduced, the American people could possibly take their dividend to Starbucks for half off of one coffee.

President Trump spoke about the plan in Miami (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

“When the budget deficit is $2 trillion and Congress is going to add hundreds of billions of dollars more, any savings should go to deficit reduction, rather than another tax rebate.”

James Fishback, who is the CEO of investment firm Azoria, has claimed that 78 million households that pay federal income taxes would each receive $5,000 under the plan, which would involve Musk chopping down federal spending by a whopping $2 trillion.

Fears have grown over where those cuts would be made in order to achieve this new budget, with many people worrying that this could impact vital things like Medicare benefits payments.

On X, formerly Twitter, Fishback wrote: “Our proposal for the president is simple: Taxpaying households should receive $1 for every $5 of total savings that DOGE delivers.”

In response, Musk said: “Will check with the president.”

And the very next day, Trump spoke about the idea in Miami. 

A renowned Democratic strategist claims that the Trump administration is ‘collapsing’ and has predicted when it will fall.

Famous for helping elect Bill Clinton to the presidency in 1992, James Carville has urged his fellow Democrats to play ‘possum’ and let the Grand Old Party (GOP) self-destruct.

The veteran Dem guru urged his fellow Democrats to stay quiet and let the chaos unfold.

He believes that Trump’s public opinion is dropping fast – his federal government purge, coupled with his controversial economic policies within his first month in office, is setting the stage for disaster.

Furthermore, the influence of right-hand man Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has radical goals that many fear could destabilise the economy.

“What I have said very publicly is that Democrats need to play possum. This whole thing is collapsing,” Carville predicted.

The veteran Dem strategist urged his fellow Democrats to stay quiet and let the chaos unfold (Cindy Ord / Staff / Getty)

The 80-year-old author believes the situation will spiral and crumble within four to six weeks.

His bold claim comes just months after Trump made history as the first Republican in 20 years to win the popular vote in a presidential election, gaining ground in over 90% of US counties.

Carville pointed to a poll indicating that Trump’s approval ratings had plummeted from the low 50s to the upper 30s, and his overall public opinion is dropping fast.

The political consultant who was ‘certain Kamala Harris will win’ called the progressive activist groups during the last election cycle ‘useless.’

“These people were just useless,” he criticised. “They’re actually worse than useless, they’re detrimental. And they never, ever learn to shut up.

“I believe that this administration, in less than 30 days, is in the midst of a massive collapse and particularly a collapse in public opinion.”

Elon Musk has played a key role in assisting Trump’s administration (Joe Raedle / Staff / Getty)

He added: “This is the lowest approval—not even close—that any president has ever had at a comparable time.”

Carville thinks the Republican Party’s own internal conflicts could speed up its downfall.

He points out that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) will struggle to get all Republicans on the same page to support Trump’s plans, especially since their majority in the House is so slim. If they can’t agree on key policies, it could make the party even weaker.

Carville went on to say Democrats should ‘hold your fire’ and that it’s going to be ‘easy pickings’ in a matter of weeks.

“Just lay back,” he added. “It’s going to happen quickly.”

Meanwhile, the President hit back on his own social media platform, Truth Social, saying he had the ‘best polling numbers’ he’s ever had before calling Carville a ‘loser’.

Trump wrote: “The Democrats, run by broken down losers like James Carville, whose weak of mind and body, are going crazy, and just don’t know what to do.”

He added: “They have lost their confidence and spirit – They have lost their minds!” 

President Donald Trump isn’t even halfway through his first 100 days, but we’re already looking at a very different United States of America. Alongside tariffs levied against the likes of the European Union and China, he’s renamed the Gulf of Mexico, appointed Elon Musk as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, and even suggested Canada become the 51st state.

It’s been a wild ride, and firmly by his side on this roller coaster of changes has been Mr. Musk. More than being the head of the DOGE, the self-confessed ‘First Buddy’ has vowed to cut $2 trillion from government spending.

Although Musk originally admitted he didn’t think it could be done, that hasn’t stopped him from trying. Whole departments have been shut down, over 75,000 federal employees have apparently taken the ‘deferred resignation’ offer, and 21 within his own United States DOGE Service stepped down in a single day.

The President maintains that his cabinet is more than happy with Musk (The Washington Post / Contributor / Getty)

The cuts won’t end here, with Musk’s now-infamous “What did you do last week?” email demanding that government workers justify their jobs. For all of those praising Musk as the fat-trimming hero America needs right now, it seems there are just as many against him. Texas representative Jasmine Crockett has given a two-word response, Senator Tina Smith referred to him as a d*ck, and someone played a NSFW AI video of Musk and Trump in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

During the first cabinet meeting of his second term, President Trump awkwardly came to Musk’s defense and asked the entire room if they thought the tech mogul was doing a good job.

One journalist addressed Trump’s Truth Social claims that everyone in the cabinet is happy with Musk and took the question to the entire room.

As Musk went to interject, the POTUS chimed in saying: “Elon, let the cabinet speak, just for a second.”

He then directly said: “Is anyone unhappy with Elon? If you are, we’ll throw them out of here.”

There were some awkward chuckles and uncomfortable faces followed by a round of applause. Trump then added: “[They] have a lot of respect for Elon and that’s he’s doing this.

“Some disagree a little bit, but I will tell you, for the most part, I think everyone’s not only happy, they’re thrilled.”

Looking at the bigger picture, the President said he wants to balance the US budget “maybe by next year or the year after.” The last time the country had a budget surplus was in 2001.

Although Musk didn’t get a seat at the table, he was equally full of praise as he stood to the side wearing a t-shirt that read ‘Tech Support’: “President Trump has put together the best Cabinet ever. Literally, I don’t think that such a talented team has ever been assembled.”

Hyping his own work and delivering a warning to the US people, Musk concluded: “I’m taking a lot of flak, and getting a lot of death threats, by the way.