Top line
Bitcoin prices fell below $101,000 to a five-month low on Tuesday, marking a broader decline in the crypto market over the past month as investors appear to be moving away from riskier assets while the Federal Reserve cautiously approaches interest rate cuts.
The leading cryptocurrency has pared its historic gains in recent weeks.
Getty Images
Key facts
The price of bitcoin fell 6% over the past day to around $100,980, matching levels not seen since June, when the cryptocurrency’s price was last below $100,000.
Bitcoin (down 12.4%) has led to a broader decline in crypto prices over the past seven days: Ethereum prices are down 18%,
Bitcoin hit a new record high above $126,000 on Oct. 6, before prices fell nearly 11% in the run-up to the Federal Reserve’s decision to cut interest rates by another quarter point last week, although Fed Chairman Jerome Powell suggested that further rate reduction was not guaranteed in December.
Rising cryptocurrency prices tend to coincide with the Fed’s choice to lower interest rates, as the price of bitcoin surged during the pandemic as rates fell from $5,000 in March 2020 to around $69,000 in November 2021, and when the Fed opted for rate hikes in 2018, bitcoin’s value rose from around $20,000 at around $3,000.
Fed Governor Lisa Cook said Monday she was undecided on a rate cut for December, and it’s unclear whether other central bank officials would favor keeping interest rates in their current range, with the exception of Kansas City Fed President Jeffrey Schmid, who voted last week not to cut rates at all.
Surprising fact
Bitcoin prices fell 3.7% in October, the cryptocurrency’s worst performance during the month in the last decade, according to CoinMarketCap. data.
Large number
About $840 billion. This is the extent of the reduction in the overall market value of the global crypto market over the past month, from $4.21 trillion on October 5 to $3.36 trillion on Tuesday. according to at CoinMarketCap.
Key context
Bitcoin prices have hit several new record highs this year as the Trump administration backed legislation aimed at easing regulatory burdens on the crypto market. The token surpassed $110,000 and $120,000 thresholds in two months, building on a meteoric rise as several companies announced they would invest in bitcoin, including President Donald Trump’s Trump Media and Technology Group, which announced a $2.5 billion plan to create a corporate bitcoin reserve. The United States has also built up its own bitcoin reserve, with the federal government’s stockpile totaling between $15 billion and $20 billion in assets as of August, according to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Bitcoin appeared to emerge as a safe haven throughout the federal government shutdown, hitting its latest record high alongside rising prices for gold, silver and platinum.
