Investing.com-- Bitcoin fell on Wednesday, wallowing near a three-month low as concerns over U.S. trade tariffs and slowing economic growth sparked a wave of risk-averse moves across cryptocurrencies.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency extended losses into a fourth straight session, having wiped out roughly $8,000 from its price over the past week. Bitcoin’s initial rout was triggered by a $1.5 billion hack of popular exchange ByBit, which especially dented sentiment towards crypto.
Bitcoin fell 3.6% to $88,706.9 by 00:51 ET (05:51 GMT). The crypto had fallen as low as $86,000, taking little support from Strategy (NASDAQ: MSTR )- the world’s biggest corporate holder of Bitcoin- announcing a purchase of $2 billion more coins.
Bitcoin, crypto hit by broader risk-off move
Bitcoin tracked a decline in other risk-driven markets, particularly U.S. stocks, as sentiment soured amid a storm of negative factors.
Wall Street was nursing a string of recent losses as U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose more tariffs. Trump on Tuesday raised the prospect of tariffs on copper imports, after earlier stating that his 25% duties on Canada and Mexico will take effect from next week.
In addition to the tariff jitters, crypto markets were also grappling with the prospect of a U.S. economic slowdown, especially after a raft of weak readings on consumer sentiment.
Weak consumer sentiment points to softer private consumption, which is a major driver of the U.S. economy.
Bitcoin ETFs see near record outflows of $1 bln
U.S.-listed Bitcoin exchange-traded funds clocked near record capital outflows this week, as investors pulled out en-masse from risk-driven, speculative assets.
Data from SoSoValue showed spot Bitcoin ETFs saw an outflow of $1.01 billion on Tuesday- their biggest single-day outflow since March 2024, which was just after the launch of the spot ETFs.
The outflows reflected a heavy degree of profit-taking among institutional investors, as they tracked steep declines in Bitcoin’s price. The crypto has now given up all gains made since Trump’s election victory in early-November.
Fidelity's Fidelity Wise (LON: WISEa ) Origin Bitcoin Fund (NYSE: FBTC ) and BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (NASDAQ: IBIT ) saw the single biggest one-day outflows, of $344.7 million and $164.4 million, respectively.
Crypto price today: altcoins, memecoins steady from bruising losses
Broader crypto prices steadied from recent losses on Thursday, although sentiment remained frail.
World no.2 crypto Ether rose 0.5% to $2,492.69, while XRP rose 1.9% to $2.2923.
Solana , Cardano , and Polygon rose between 2% and 5%, while among memecoins, Dogecoin rose 0.9%, while $TRUMP fell 0.5% and traded at record lows.