After exchange operator loses ether from a cold wallet in a North Korea-linked attack, bitcoin and ether fall as industry enthusiasm wanes.

By Alun John, Amanda Cooper, Hannah Lang LONDON (Reuters) -Bitcoin dropped below $90,000 to its lowest since November 18 on Tuesday, as market nerves over U.S. tariffs reinforced the blow to crypto investor confidence from last week's $1.

Following the revelation Friday from cryptocurrency exchange firm Bybit that hackers stole digital tokens worth about $1.5 billion – in what may be the biggest crypto heist of all time – CEO Ben Zhou wrote on X Sunday that it has replenished its reserves. Bybit was able to do this through a mix of emergency loans and large deposits.

Bitcoin, BTC= the world's largest cryptocurrency by market value, broke below $90,000 to its lowest since November 18, falling by as much as 7.5% at one point. It was last down 5% on the day at $89,314.

Bitcoin headed for its biggest one-day drop since August on Tuesday, driven by nervousness over U.S. tariffs and results from Nvidia, as last week's hack of $1.5 billion worth of ether from the Bybit exchange delivered a blow to investor confidence.

Researchers spot the stolen funds moving through cryptocurrency wallets that were used in earlier heists attributed to North Korea's Lazarus hacking group.