Bitcoin spent the weekend under steady pressure after sinking to a six-month low, dragged down by another wave of risk aversion sweeping through global markets.
The slide capped a bruising week for crypto and equities. Hopes for a Federal Reserve rate cut at the next policy meeting have faded, and that shift has hit most risky assets.
By Sunday afternoon, Bitcoin was trading around $95,612 at 13:40 GMT, only slightly above its earlier dip to $95,885, the weakest since early May. The drop followed days of heavy selling as investors dialled back on risk.
The mood wasn’t helped by Kansas City Fed President Jeffrey Schmid, the latest central bank official to question a December rate cut. He warned that inflation worries run deeper than the narrow effects of tariffs. Markets reacted quickly, pricing in roughly a 40% chance of a December cut, down from almost 90% earlier this month.
US equities found a bit of relief late on Friday, but nerves remained high ahead of a data-heavy week. After Washington’s 43-day government shutdown, a backlog of economic releases is set to hit fast.
Crypto traders were already unsettled. Bitcoin’s drop of more than 20% in just over a month puts it firmly in bear-market territory. Exchange-traded funds tied to crypto saw $870m worth of redemptions on Thursday alone.
The wider crypto market has lost more than $1tn in value since peaking on 7 October, a decline of roughly 24%. Long-term holders are taking profits. Data from Glassnode shows they have sold 815,000 coins over the past 30 days, the heaviest profit-taking since January 2024.
With rate-cut hopes fading and risk appetite low, traders are bracing for another unsettled week.