bitcoin fell below $66,000 on Friday at the start of the US session, as rising macroeconomic risks are scaring investors away from risk assets.
The largest cryptocurrency has now erased most of Wednesday’s rise, falling 3% from around $68,000 in the late hours to $65,600 in the morning hours. The CoinDesk 20 broad market index is down 2.3% over the past 24 hours, with ether (ETH), XRP (XRP), and solana (SOL) falling by similar amounts.
Cryptocurrency-related stocks also followed the move, giving back some of the gains earlier this week. Strategy (MSTR), the largest corporate holder of bitcoin, fell 3%, while Coinbase (COIN) was down more than 2%. Stablecoin issuer Circle (CRCL) fell nearly 5%, breaking its bounce that saw the stock gain nearly 50% in a couple of sessions.
Miners, increasingly linked to building AI infrastructure, performed even worse: IREN (IREN), Cipher Mining (CIFR), Core Scientific (CORZ) and TeraWulf (WULF) lost between 6% and 8%.
The action came as U.S. stock indexes fell, with the Nasdaq down 0.8% and the S&P 500 down 0.6%.
In the context, there was a combination of risks that should worry investors.
A higher-than-expected Producer Price Index (PPI) inflation reading for last month spooked those expecting a continuation of inflation’s cooling trend. In January, the core PPI rose 3.6% year-on-year, above the estimate of 3.0% and up from 3.3% previously. Markets are now pricing in a 96% probability of no rate cuts by the March 18 Federal Reserve meeting.
Concerns also persist about stress in credit markets, with credit spreads at their widest level in four months. Private equity firms KKR (KKR), Ares (ARES) and Apollo Global Management (APO) plunged 6% to 7% to new lows during the session.
On top of that, US strike prediction market odds on Iran increased this morning after the US began evacuating Israeli embassy staff.
Money flows to safe havens
In fixed income, the 10-year US Treasury yield has fallen below 4% for the first time since November 2024. Precious metals continue to rally, with gold rising 1% to above $5,230 an ounce, while silver has risen 4% to return above $92. Meanwhile, crude oil jumped 2.3% to above $67 a barrel.
Read more: The worst may be yet to come. Bitcoin Chart Reviews Historical Pattern
