Bitcoin retreated sharply on Saturday, falling to around $65,735, erasing gains made earlier in the week when the cryptocurrency briefly approached $70,000. The sell-off, which extended to other major cryptocurrencies, followed a week of fluctuating prices and mounting macroeconomic concerns.
The pullback began as U.S. Equity markets weakened, with the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, and Dow Jones Industrial Average all closing lower on Friday. Nvidia, a key player in the artificial intelligence sector, continued to experience a post-earnings decline, shedding another 4.2% of its value. Adding to the downward pressure, U.S. Producer price data released Friday came in higher than expected, registering a 0.5% increase and signaling persistent inflationary pressures that could delay anticipated interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
Altcoins experienced even steeper declines than Bitcoin. Solana’s value dropped 6.7%, while Ether fell 6.2%. Dogecoin and XRP also saw significant losses, declining by 5.1% and 4% respectively. The declines erased recent outperformance by altcoins, which had been bolstered by strong inflows into U.S. Spot Bitcoin ETFs.
Despite the broader market downturn, U.S. Spot Bitcoin ETFs continued to attract investment, adding $1.1 billion over three days, potentially setting a record for the best week in months. However, this inflow proved insufficient to counteract the prevailing macroeconomic headwinds, according to market analysts.
“Over-analysis of short-term price movements is misguided,” said Dom Harz, co-founder of bitcoin finance firm BOB. “Bitcoin’s volatility is no surprise, particularly for early investors who have experienced previous cycles. What’s different this time is the type of capital behind the emerging asset class.”
Concerns are also growing regarding stablecoin reserves. Data from CryptoQuant indicates that USDT stablecoin reserves on exchanges have decreased from $60 billion to $51.1 billion over the past two months. The firm has warned that a further decline below $50 billion could trigger a substantial sell-off.
Elsewhere in the market, Strategy Shares has become a focus of investor attention, topping the list of U.S. Companies with the highest short interest volume. This reflects increasing skepticism about the sustainability of the firm’s strategy of funding Bitcoin purchases through debt. On the Ethereum side, large holders have begun selling their holdings at a loss, and DAT company ETHZilla has officially abandoned its ETH accumulation strategy, shifting its focus to tokenized real-world assets.
Bitcoin is currently trading within the $60,000 to $70,000 range it has occupied since February 5th. Wednesday’s attempt to break through the $70,000 barrier proved unsuccessful, establishing a clear resistance level. The question now is whether the $60,000 level will continue to hold as support heading into March.
