Bitcoin extended losses on Friday and was headed for a steep weekly drop as fragile risk appetite, amid a rout in global technology stocks, kept investors largely averse towards cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin extended losses on Friday and was headed for a steep weekly drop as fragile risk appetite, amid a rout in global technology stocks, kept investors largely averse towards cryptocurrencies.
The world’s largest crypto was headed for a second straight week of declines, and was also trading down for four of the past five weeks, as crypto markets struggled to recover from a dismal performance in October.
Bitcoin fell 1.7% to $100,420.0 by 09:28 ET (14:28 GMT). The world’s largest crypto slumped into a bear market this week, falling over 20% from an early-October record high.
Before the dip, Bitcoin initially steadied at around $102,000 in early trading. Iliya Kalchev, Nexo Dispatch Analyst, told Investing.com that the rebound looked "more like position repair than renewed risk appetite, with leverage still subdued and flows reinforcing caution."
Bitcoin heads for weekly losses amid broader risk aversion
Bitcoin was trading down more than 9% this week, and was also trading red for a second consecutive week.
This came as selling in broader risk-driven markets, especially equities, spilled over into crypto. Concerns over stretched valuations in the technology sector sparked a wave of selling in equity markets this week, which in turn spilled over into other sectors.
Economic uncertainty also weighed, as an ongoing U.S. government shutdown disrupted vast swathes of the world’s biggest economy and delayed the release of several key data points.
Private employment data released on Thursday showed a sharp increase in U.S. layoffs in October, which fueled bets that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates again when it meets in December.
Trump wants the U.S. to become ‘Bitcoin superpower’
U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier this week that he wants the country to further embrace Bitcoin and crypto technology, calling for U.S. leadership in the field.
He touted his administration’s passing of several crypto-friendly legislations, and claimed that the U.S. had ended its regulatory war against crypto.
“We’re making the United States the Bitcoin superpower, the crypto capital of the world,” Trump said, while also calling for further leadership over China.
Trump’s administration doled out several crypto-friendly measures this year, including the creation of a national crypto stockpile and the establishment of a regulatory framework for stablecoins.
But he stopped short of announcing government purchases of digital assets.
Bitcoin ETFs snap six-day outflow streak with $240 million in inflows
Despite weak weekly performance, U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded $240 million in net inflows on Thursday, snapping a six-day streak of withdrawals totaling about $2.05 billion.
BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) led the rebound with $112.4 million of inflows, followed by Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) at $61.6 million and Ark Invest and 21Shares’ ARKB with $60.4 million, according to SoSoValue data. Bitwise’s BITB added another $5.5 million.
Total trading volume for the spot bitcoin ETFs reached $4.77 billion, up from $4.07 billion the previous day.
Spot Ethereum ETFs in the U.S. also saw a turnaround, attracting $12.5 million in net inflows after six straight days of outflows.
Crypto price today: altcoins dither, head for weekly declines
Broader crypto prices moved in a flat-to-low range on Friday, and were also nursing weekly losses amid a broader risk-off move.
World no.2 crypto Ether fell nearly 4% to $3,230, and was trading down over 17% this week. Ether had slumped to its lowest level since mid-July earlier this week.
XRP fell 4.4%, while BNB lost 0.8%. Both coins were down nearly 14% for the week.
Solana dipped 4.1%, while Cardano shed 1% on Friday.
Among meme tokens, Dogecoin was little changed, while $TRUMP was down 5.5%.