As heightened fears over slower U.S. interest rate drops and possible government coin sales weakened sentiment toward cryptocurrency, Bitcoin dropped on Friday and was expected to see heavy losses this week.

As traders turned to safe havens like gold and the dollar due to increased economic uncertainty, cryptocurrency prices likewise mostly followed a decline in more general risk-driven markets.

Profit-taking also affected the largest cryptocurrency in the world, which tripled in value by 2024. Alongside Bitcoin, the price of other cryptocurrencies also declined.

Bitcoin dropped 0.6% around 00:56 ET (05:56 GMT) to $93,925.0. For a brief while, the coin dropped as low as $92,474.1.

 

Bitcoin heads for weekly losses 

 

This week, Bitcoin saw its worst performance since late September, down roughly 4.4%.
Reports that the Department of Justice had obtained court authority to sell over $6.5 billion worth of Bitcoin that had been seized from the Silk Road illegal market added to the general risk-off attitude and put pressure on the cryptocurrency.
The DOJ sale dampened expectations that new President Donald Trump would turn the government's seized token holdings into a strategic reserve, even as it also signifies greater selling pressure on Bitcoin.


In addition to promising to implement crypto-friendly laws, Trump has hinted at the potential creation of a Bitcoin strategic reserve.
However, considering that Congress is unlikely to approve any new fiscal expenditure on government Bitcoin, commentators have some worries about exactly how he will establish the reserve.

 

Nevertheless, excitement toward Trump fueled significant increases in Bitcoin through the end of 2024, pushing the currency to all-time highs of over $108,000. Additionally, Trump was observed appointing a number of crypto-friendly individuals to important regulatory positions.

 

Crypto price today: altcoins dip as nonfarm payrolls loom

As risk appetite soured ahead of important nonfarm payrolls data that is expected later Friday, which is likely to influence interest rate expectations, broader cryptocurrency prices followed the decline in Bitcoin.

The reading is concerning for risk-driven assets because it was made only days after the Federal Reserve's December meeting minutes reaffirmed the bank's prediction that interest rate cuts would be less frequent in 2025.

The second-best cryptocurrency in the world XRP dropped 2.3% to $2.2949, while Ether dropped 2% to $3,262.51.

While DOGE/USD lost 2.8% among meme tokens, Solana, Cardano, and Polygon had declines ranging from 0.8% to 3%.