News
Bitcoin price drops below $61,000 after one of the worst weeks this year
Bitcoin It briefly fell below $61,000 on Monday morning as the cryptocurrency continues to lose value.
Fed needs to start cutting rates now, strategist says
The price of Bitcoin fell as low as $60,860, its lowest level in more than a month, before trading at $61,037 in Monday morning trading in London. The price of the cryptocurrency fell by almost 4% in the last day. Bitcoin has fallen about 8% over the past week.
Monday’s slide comes after one of the worst weeks of 2024 for cryptocurrencies so far, as the global cryptocurrency market lost tens of billions of dollars in value. Overall, the global cryptocurrency market capitalization fell 4.7% over the past day to $2.24 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap. An index containing the 100 largest cryptocurrencies fell about 5% in the week through Sunday, the steepest drop since April, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Cryptocurrency watchers have been eagerly awaiting new all-time highs for Bitcoin, which traded above $71,000 earlier this month. But, in a somewhat surprising twist, the popular cryptocurrency and the broader cryptocurrency market have largely cooled. In recent weeks it has continued to decline steadily. Bitcoin it fell below $66,000 last week, extending declines from a dive the previous week determined by the latest consumer price index data and the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision.
Despite short-term volatility, Bitcoin is up 38% this year.
Uncertainty over monetary policy has caused much of the volatility around Bitcoin and Bitcoin other altcoins. Although annual inflation fell to 3.3% year over year, it remained well above the Fed’s 2% target. Given stubbornly high prices, Fed officials decided earlier this month to keep the reference federal funds rate stable between 5.25% and 5.5%, foreseeing only one rate cut in 2024.
It’s not just Bitcoin. Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, also fell 5% on Monday morning, settling at around $3,320. Other major cryptocurrencies, including Solana, Dogecoin and Cardano, saw declines of between 4% and 6%.