Bitcoin (BTC-USD) prices have tanked lately, but it may be more a tactical retreat than a full-blown crypto winter.

"I really don't think that anyone should be worried whatsoever," Professional Capital Management CEO and crypto investor Anthony Pompliano told me at the Bitcoin Investor Week conference in New York City on Friday. "If you ... take a look at other assets, gold is down, stocks are down. This is a global liquidity conversation. It's not a bitcoin-specific thing."

"Bitcoin just happens to be the asset that is most sensitive to global liquidity," Pompliano added. "And whenever you get that sensitivity if liquidity is contracting, bitcoin will go down."

The sell-off in bitcoin sparked fresh worries that the digital asset is on the cusp of another one of its legendary busts.

The price of bitcoin dropped as much as 7% on Friday to $78,495 as investors digested rising fears of a recession and the looming tariffs by the Trump administration.

Bitcoin has now fallen by around 17% in February. The asset has shed a stunning 23% since hitting a record high of more than $109,000 on the day after Trump's inauguration.

And the large negative numbers for crypto don't stop there.

Listen: How Robinhood's co-founder is plotting crypto

In February, investors have yanked more than $2 billion from spot bitcoin ETFs. This is the most significant outflow since the inception of the bitcoin ETFs. Ethereum (ETH-USD) is trading at a 14-month low.

Liquidations have also picked up across the crypto complex, according to data from CoinGlass.

Despite the sell-off, the enthusiasm for crypto at the Bitcoin Investor Week gathering is palpable. People Yahoo Finance chatted with — mostly professional money managers — view the pullback as a short-term price adjustment that's typical for the industry.

Attendees aren't panic-selling, as they view the Trump administration as likely to push through stablecoin regulation and a strategic bitcoin reserve this year.

Robinhood (HOOD) co-founder and CEO Vlad Tenev told me this week he's growing bullish on lawmakers passing stablecoin legislation soon.

"I think so," Tenev said when asked on Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid podcast if the industry will get stablecoin legislation this year. "I mean, there's already a stablecoin bill circulating, and there was one before the election as well. So I think this seems to be an issue where there's more alignment."

Stablecoins are less volatile cryptocurrencies backed by US dollars.