Bitcoin price today: flat at $114k as trade, economic uncertainty persists

Investing.com-- Bitcoin moved marginally lower on Wednesday, remaining on the back foot as persistent uncertainty over U.S. trade tariffs and slowing economic growth kept traders largely averse towards risk-driven assets. 

The world’s largest crypto edged lower 0.2% to $114,170 by 09:53 ET (13:53 GMT), remaining close to a near one-month low hit at the beginning of the week. 

Broader crypto prices also fell, as a brief recovery in altcoins seen this week ran out of steam amid weak risk appetite. 

Bitcoin and other cryptos also remained vulnerable to extended profit-taking after clocking strong gains in July.

Bitcoin treasury companies have peaked- Galaxy’s Novogratz 

Galaxy Digital (TSX:GLXY) founder and crypto proponent Michael Novogratz warned on Tuesday that the trend of companies created to hold Bitcoin and boost their balance sheets had likely peaked. 

“The question now is which of the existing companies become monsters,” Novogratz said during Galaxy Digital’s second-quarter earnings call. 

He warned that a large number of Bitcoin and Ether treasuries could lock out new entrants to the sector from “getting oxygen,” likely referring to limited liquidity and opportunities for fundraising in the sector.

Novogratz’ warning comes as a host of companies began raising equity to invest in Bitcoin, largely in emulation of Strategy’s (NASDAQ:MSTR) success.

Michael Saylor’s firm is the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, and logged stellar gains in its valuation as investors sought exposure to Bitcoin through its stock. Strategy also raised tens of billions of dollars through several equity offerings, all of which were aimed at buying Bitcoin.

But recent buying action by Strategy, and new entrants such as Japan’s Metaplanet Inc (TYO:3350), did little to stem declines in Bitcoin’s price. 

Bitcoin ETFs continue to see outflows

U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs saw net outflows for a fourth straight session on Tuesday, as weaker-than-expected service sector data reignited stagflation concerns.

Combined, the 11 funds posted $196 million in net withdrawals, with the bulk coming from Fidelity’s FBTC and BlackRock’s IBIT, according to figures from SoSoValue.

The losing streak, which began last Thursday, marks the longest run of outflows since April. Investors pulled $114.83 million on Thursday, followed by $812.25 million on Friday and $333.19 million on Monday.

Crypto price today: altcoins lose ground amid trade, economy jitters

Broader crypto prices largely retreated on Wednesday, losing ground after logging some gains earlier this week. 

Risk appetite remained on the backfoot as Trump kept up his threats of higher trade tariffs, this time against India over the country’s repeated purchases of Russian oil.

Trump’s broader tariffs against other major trading partners are also set to take effect from Friday. 

Concerns over a cooling U.S. economy also weighed, especially after dismal nonfarm payrolls data from last week. The print did drive up bets that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates further in September.

In altcoins, world no.2 crypto Ether fell 1.6% to $3,597.46. XRP fell nearly 3% to $2.94. 

Solana and Cardano lost around 2% each. 

Among meme tokens, Dogecoin also dropped 2%, while $TRUMP slid 1.3%.

(Additional reporting by Vahid Karaahmetovic.)