PakGazette– Bitcoin fell on Thursday, extending a streak of heavy losses as risk appetite was shaken by hawkish signals from the Federal Reserve, while the prospect of coin sales by the US government It was also heavy.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency largely erased a new year’s rally this week, following broader declines in risk-driven assets as traders prepared for a slower pace of rate cuts in 2025.
Cryptocurrency prices overall also retreated, although Thursday’s losses were more skewed toward Bitcoin after reports said the Justice Department had received court approval to sell confiscated coins on the Silk Road market.
fell 2.1% to $94,471.1 at 00:56 ET (05:56 GMT), and had fallen as low as $93,323.1 earlier in the session.
Justice Department Gets Court Approval to Sell $6.5 Billion in Bitcoin
Media reports said the Justice Department had received court approval to sell approximately 69,370 Bitcoin seized in a crackdown on the online black market Silk Road in 2014.
The total value of the tokens amounts to about $6.5 billion and represents a heavy dose of selling pressure on the world’s largest cryptocurrency.
The Justice Department has sold its confiscated cryptocurrency holdings in the past and was recently seen mobilizing its Bitcoin hoard for a possible sale. Coinbase (NASDAQ 🙂 has a contract with the Department of Justice to handle government cryptocurrency sales.
The Bitcoin sale also dashed some hopes that the Justice Department would convert its Bitcoin holdings into a strategic reserve under incoming President Donald Trump.
Trump has promised to create a national reserve of Bitcoin, although it is not yet clear how he will achieve this.
Crypto Price Today: Fed’s Aggressive Signals Hit Crypto Markets
Broader cryptocurrency prices fell along with Bitcoin as risk appetite was eroded by hawkish signals from the Federal Reserve.
Minutes from the central bank’s December meeting reiterated the Federal Reserve’s plan to cut interest rates at a slower pace in 2025, amid the resilience of the U.S. economy and concerns about persistent inflation.
Policymakers were also seen expressing some concern that inflation remained supported by Trump’s expansionary and protectionist policies, which could keep rates high for longer.
Higher rates bode poorly for speculative assets like cryptocurrencies as they weigh on investors’ appetite for risk-driven assets.
Among altcoins, it stabilized at $3,328.41 after posting heavy losses earlier in the week. rose 2.2% to $2.3478, also recovering slightly from recent losses.
and fell between 0.4% and 6%, while among meme tokens, DOGE lost 3.1%.
