Bitcoin drops over 7%.

Bitcoin opened December with a drop of more than seven percent. The decline came from selling across top tokens, forced liquidations, and thin weekend liquidity that made price swings more volatile.

Strategy, the largest public corporate holder of bitcoin, also moved lower after lowering its earnings outlook and setting aside a cash reserve for future dividends. Its balance sheet is built around a large bitcoin position, so price changes typically flow directly into reported performance.

This creates a valuable point of clarification about market cap. When large holders mark assets down, the total market cap appears to fall by billions, however, market cap is only a measurement based on the last traded price and the number of shares outstanding.

It does not fully represent cash that existed or moved. Price changes adjust the measurement, not the underlying liquidity.