Bitcoin Tumbles to $43K, Lowest in Three Weeks

Some analysts worry that rising bond yields might prompt the Federal Reserve to tighten historically loose monetary policy, prompting a correction in assets perceived as risky.

AccessTimeIconFeb 28, 2021 at 5:34 p.m. UTC
Updated Feb 10, 2023 at 2:48 p.m. UTC
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Bitcoin (BTC) fell 5.4% to about $43,000, its lowest level in three weeks.

  • The price move appears to be a continuation of last week's trend, when bitcoin fell amid concerns that rising U.S. Treasury bond yieldshttps://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-28/traders-on-yield-watch-in-bond-markets-not-for-faint-hearted/ might prompt the Federal Reserve to tighten monetary policy sooner rather than later to keep inflation from rising out of control. Analysts have said such a move could prompt a sell-off in risky assets, including stocks and bitcoin.
  • Bitcoin failed to get a lift last week from ostensibly bullish news, including Coinbase's march toward a public stock listing and a report from JPMorgan, the biggest U.S. bank, arguing that investors could allocate 1% of their portfolios to the largest cryptocurrency.
  • Bitcoin is down 24% in the seven days through Sunday, the worst weekly performance since March 2020. Prices have declined on six of the past seven days.
  • Latest retreat trims bitcoin's gain in February to 31%. Year to date, the cryptocurrency is up 50%.
  • Digital-asset markets were in the red across the board. Ether (ETH) hit a low of $1,305, down about 8%, while Cardano’s ADA token – a big winner for the week – shed 17% from an all-time high of $1.48 and is now trading around $1.21, according to the CoinDesk 20.
  • "This is still a dip buyer's market," Matt Blom, head of sales and trading for the digital-asset exchange firm Equos, wrote on Sunday. "Profit taking has led to liquidations, which has led to more profit taking. $41,800 will be the first test" on the downside. "The next level is $38,100."
  • "On the upside, a close above $45,000 will change the theme. $48,200 will be the first target to be chased down, and back above $50,000, everyone will forget last week ever happened and will be shouting for a return to the all-time highs," Blom wrote.
  • "The question now for BTC in the medium-term is whether the HODLers can withstand a further drawdown and at which point the longs will start to feel the pain," cryptocurrency trading firm QCP Capital wrote Sunday in Telegram channel.

- CoinDesk's Daniel Kuhn contributed to this report.


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Bradley Keoun

Bradley Keoun is the managing editor of CoinDesk's Tech & Protocols team. He owns less than $1,000 each of several cryptocurrencies.


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