Bitcoin turned positive on Friday after the latest personal consumption expenditures price index came in line with expectations, after falling below the $80,000 level overnight for the first time in three months.
The price of bitcoin was last higher by 1% to $84,148.34, according to Coin Metrics. Earlier, it fell as low as $78,226.23.
Still, the blue-chip coin was down more than 11% for the week, on pace for its worst week since the 2022 FTX collapse. It’s also heading for its worst month since June 2022.
Bitcoin heads for its worst week and month since 2022
A broader risk-off move this week knocked bitcoin to its lowest levels in three months and put it more than 25% off its all-time high, reached in January on President Donald Trump’s inauguration day. Investors have been shunning assets perceived to be risky given the weakness in global equity markets and amid uncertainty surrounding the new president’s tariff policy and resolutions to the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Gaza wars.
There could be more of the same in the new month ahead, with bitcoin expected to be at the mercy of investors’ macro concerns despite its strong regulatory tailwinds.
Bitcoin’s declines this week have triggered a wave of long liquidations – about $397 million in the past 24 hours alone, according to CoinGlass. These force traders to sell their assets at market price to settle their debts and help push the asset’s price even lower.
Further, exchange traded funds that track bitcoin are heading for a record week of outflows, which stand at $2.7 billion as of Thursday’s market close.
However, investors have found a silver lining in bitcoin’s relative strength index (RSI), a momentum indicator used to measure overbought or oversold conditions, which fell to 25 on Friday, giving some investors hope that bitcoin could find a bottom in March. A value below 30 usually indicates an asset is oversold.
Investor sentiment this week was also soured by news that Bybit, a major cryptocurrency exchange, suffered a $1.5 billion hack in what’s estimated to be the largest crypto heist in history.
Still, crypto bulls remain positive on bitcoin’s outlook as they await key regulatory developments from the Trump administration. Geoffrey Kendrick, head of digital assets research at Standard Chartered, said he still expect bitcoin to surpass the $200,000 threshold this year despite the current pullback – which several analysts warn could deepen to $70,000.
Elsewhere, Coinbase and Robinhood rose 3.5% and 2.7%, respectively, and shares of MicroStrategy gained 6.5%.
The token tied to Solana, which has become the go-to host for meme coins – including the Official Trump meme coin – jumped 6% after the SEC Thursday night said it does not deem meme coins securities. The coin is still down 36% for the month, however.
—CNBC’s Nick Wells and Ryan Browne contributed to this report
Correction: This article has been updated to reflect the percentage decline on the day in the price of bitcoin.
