Bitcoin’s slide has continued into the weekend.
The price fell to around $65,300 on Saturday, 14 November, down nearly 5% over 24 hours and its weakest level since mid-August. Weekend selling broke through Friday’s low of about $67,600.
Bitcoin traded near $75,750 a week ago, leaving it down about 14% over seven days. A brief recovery above $70,000 on Friday lasted only minutes before selling picked up again in the evening.
Inflation comes in hot
The fall follows a stronger than expected US inflation reading. Core inflation, which strips out food and energy prices, rose 0.3% in October, above the 0.2% forecast.
That matched a warning from Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller. Earlier in the week, Waller said he supports raising interest rates by at least 0.25 percentage points at the Fed’s meeting on 8 and 9 December, and that a bigger move “may be needed” if October’s core inflation came in at around 0.3% or higher.
On Friday, Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said inflation had spread beyond energy and tariffs, into areas including services and medical costs. “Are we on a path back to 2%? My feeling right now is we are not and we’ve got to deal with that,” he said. He did not openly back a December rate rise.
Futures markets put the chance of a December rate rise at more than 90%, according to Investing.com. The Fed’s current target range is 3.75% to 4%.
ETF outflows and forced selling
US spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded six straight days of net outflows between 5 and 12 November, totalling about $1.49 billion. The funds have still taken in about $55.5 billion in total since they launched.
Forced selling has added to the pressure, with more than $1 billion in leveraged crypto positions liquidated as prices fell.
A tough week
The sell-off deepened on Thursday, when Bitcoin dropped to a 12-week low near $71,200 as Nvidia shares tumbled following the resignation of chief executive Jensen Huang. It then fell below $70,000 on Friday after the inflation data.
What happens next
The Fed’s meeting minutes on 18 November and the PCE inflation report on 25 November are the next tests before the December rate decision. Bitcoin’s late June low near $59,000 is the next major level traders are watching.
