Bitcoin price today: dips below $80K on recession fears

Investing.com-- Bitcoin slumped Monday, extending a recent run of losses on souring risk sentiment as recession fears growth just as U.S. President Donald Trump’s forming of a strategic reserve and hosting of a White House crypto summit failed to stoke optimism 

Bitcoin fell 4.5% to $78,852.8 by 19:49 GMT. 

Recession fears mount; Trump reserve order, crypto summit sparks little cheer 

Sentiment on risk assets including crypto was soured by growing fears that U.S. economy could be headed for bigger slowdown than expected after President Trump didn’t rule out the possibility of a U.S. recession this year in a Sunday Morning Futures interview on Fox News. 

When asked about the possibility of a recession, Trump said he did not wish to make predictions, stating that there was a “period of transition because what we’re doing is very big.”  

Fears of recession have dominated market moves overshadowing crypto-related news including the short-lived optimism following Trump’s signing of an executive order approving the formation of a national Bitcoin reserve, as well as a stockpile of four other altcoins- Ether, XRP, Solana, and Cardano.

But the order will not entail any fresh crypto purchases by the government, at least not with taxpayer funds. While Trump did instruct his trade and commerce secretaries to explore “budget-neutral” strategies to buy Bitcoin, it was not immediately clear how such purchases would work.

The Bitcoin reserve will be formed from seized crypto held by the government, mainly the Department of Justice. While Trump’s reserve indicates that the government will not sell any more tokens, a lack of buying measures heralds little actual market impact from the move.

The reserve largely disappointed crypto proponents hoping for more aggressive measures from the government to buy crypto. 

Trump’s Bitcoin reserve was the main point of focus at a summit of crypto executives held at the White House on Friday. But the summit did not yield any details on what Trump’s plans for crypto regulation will entail, beyond general expressions of optimism. 

Trump has promised to enact crypto-friendly policies, with several of his key regulatory appointees harboring pro-crypto stances. 

Strategy launches $21bn ATM offering to buy more Bitcoin

Michael Saylor’s Strategy announced early Monday a $21 billion at-the-market (ATM) offering of its Series A preferred stock (STRK), with most of the proceeds earmarked for additional bitcoin purchases.

The company’s shares slumped more than 8% following the market open. The stock has declined more than 40% since hitting an all-time high in November. 

Strategy remains the largest corporate holder of bitcoin by a wide margin, owning nearly 500,000 tokens valued at around $42 billion at current prices.

Crypto price today: altcoins track Bitcoin losses amid economic uncertainty 

Broader crypto prices also retreated on Monday, extending recent losses amid few positive signals for the sector. Crypto markets largely tracked losses in broader risk-driven markets, as uncertainty over U.S. economic growth and Trump’s tariff agenda weighed. 

World no.2 crypto Ether fell 8.7% to $1,862.23, reaching its weakest level since late-2021. 

XRP dropped 4.7% to $2.1954, Solana fell 7.5%, while Cardano slid 6.2%. 

Among meme tokens, Dogecoin lost 8.9%, while $TRUMP slipped nearly 3%.

Focus this week is on U.S. inflation data for more cues on the economy and interest rates, after a mildly disappointing nonfarm payrolls reading for February.

Ambar Warrick contributed to this report.