Bitcoin fell below $60,000 on Friday, breaking the lows of the early February crypto crash and reaching its lowest level since October 2024.
The largest cryptocurrency has fallen nearly 20% over the past week and is now down more than 52% from its October peak of more than $126,000.
There have been several headwinds surrounding Bitcoin recently. Most importantly, the strategy of Michael Saylor, Bitcoin’s biggest buyer, has turned into a seller. Additionally, Spot Bitcoin ETFs have suffered sustained outflows as investors pull money out of the sector and instead allocate funds to hot artificial intelligence trades and related stocks.
A stubborn rise in inflation and Friday’s hot labor market report also prompted investors to reconsider the direction of U.S. monetary policy. Markets that were expecting a rate cut earlier this year are now fully pricing in that the Fed’s next move will be a rate hike.
As a result, U.S. stocks, which maintained their momentum to reach new record highs, have lost momentum, weighing on the overall market’s risk appetite. The Nasdaq fell more than 2% on Friday.
Cryptocurrency investors are also grappling with new concerns that artificial intelligence and quantum computing could expose weaknesses in crypto protocols. Privacy-focused cryptocurrency Zcash (ZEC) plunged more than 40% overnight after a critical vulnerability was discovered with the help of Anthropic’s latest Opus 4.8 AI model.
