NEW YORK, United States / CryptoWire.AI / – Bitcoin fell to its lowest level since August on Friday, November 13, and was on course for its worst week since early June. The world’s largest cryptocurrency was down 4.7% at $68,099.30 by 18:03 ET, slipping below $70,000 for the first time since mid-August, Investing.com data showed. It had lost 10.2% over the week. Rising expectations of Federal Reserve rate hikes and regulatory worries weighed on the market.
Bitcoin touched $67,770 earlier in the day, its weakest price since August 19. More than $1.6 billion of leveraged crypto positions were liquidated over 24 hours, most of them bets on higher prices, CoinGlass figures showed. The sell-off extended Bitcoin’s losing streak, with the coin heading for a sixth straight weekly decline. Crypto markets were already reeling from a sweeping Democratic victory in last week’s U.S. midterm elections.
Pressure on crypto began a week earlier with the U.S. jobs report. Nonfarm payrolls rose by 165,000 in October, far above the consensus estimate of 65,000, while August and September were revised up by a combined 84,000. On Tuesday, October consumer prices rose 0.4% from September, above the 0.3% forecast. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, held at 0.3%, slightly above expectations of 0.2%.
Rate hike bets weigh on crypto
A strong labor market and stubborn inflation typically push central banks to tighten policy. Fed Governor Christopher Waller said on Tuesday that he backed raising rates and that a larger 50 basis point hike should be considered in December. Traders now see a December increase as near certain, according to CME FedWatch. The odds of a 25 basis point hike stand at nearly 90%, with about 10% for a half-point move.
Friday’s producer price data offered some relief. The producer price index rose 0.3% in October, slowing sharply from 1.4% in September and below the 0.4% forecast. On an annual basis, producer prices climbed 6.5%, the largest 12-month gain since November 2022. Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds also saw steady withdrawals, with about $1.44 billion in outflows over five sessions, according to SoSoValue data. Higher rates tend to weigh on speculative assets.
MSCI move adds pressure on Strategy
Strategy, the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, also emerged as a risk this week. MSCI said the company will be removed from its MSCI USA Index after the close on November 30, while other digital asset treasury firms such as Metaplanet face removal from their indexes. The change does not force immediate Bitcoin sales, but it could limit Strategy’s ability to raise new capital. Strategy has called the treatment discriminatory, noting MSCI-linked funds hold about 3.1% of its shares.
Altcoins were also set for steep weekly losses. Ether fell 5% to $1,918.97 on Friday and was down 13.9% for the week, according to Investing.com. XRP dropped 14.5% and Solana lost 13.2%, while Cardano shed 9.6%. BNB fell 9.2%, still weighed by the $6.3 billion hack at Binance in late October. Dogecoin and $TRUMP lost 11.4% and 11%. The pullback is the deepest weekly drop since a sharp sell-off in early June.