Bitcoin price today: nosedives to 6-mth low below $96k as Dec rate cut bets wane

Investing.com-- Bitcoin fell as low as the $95,000 level on Friday, tracking a broader decline in risk-driven markets as sentiment was battered by growing bets that the Federal Reserve will not cut interest rates in December. 

The world’s largest cryptocurrency was also headed for a third consecutive week in the red, seeing little relief as institutional flows in crypto also dried up. 

Bitcoin tumbled 7.1% to $95,678 by 09:23 ET (14:23 GMT), its weakest level since May. The crypto hit an intraday low of $94,796.0

Dec rate cut bets wane as U.S. economic uncertainty grows

Markets rapidly priced out bets on a December rate cut this week, amid growing uncertainty over the world’s largest economy.

Core to this was a nearly 43-day U.S. government shutdown, which ended on Wednesday. Government officials signaled that they may never release employment and inflation readings for October due to the shutdown.

This in turn leaves the Fed flying blind going into its December meeting, making it likely that the central bank will keep rates steady on caution over the economy. 

Markets are pricing in a 45.4% chance for a 25 basis point rate cut during the Fed’s December 10-11 meeting, down sharply from a 63.8% chance last week, CME Fedwatch showed. 

A lack of official inflation and employment readings also spurred increased uncertainty over the U.S. economy, hurting risk appetite and keeping traders largely averse towards speculative assets such as crypto.

Bitcoin headed for third straight week in red as institutional demand cools

Bitcoin was trading down around 9% this week, and was also headed for a third consecutive week in the red.

Losses in the world’s largest crypto were driven largely by slowing institutional buying– among corporate treasuries and spot exchange-traded funds. 

Data from aggregator SoSoValue showed U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs saw nearly $897 million of outflows on Thursday, and were also headed for a third straight week of outflows. 

Institutional demand for Bitcoin was seen cooling as the crypto slid into a tight trading range through most of October and early-November. 

Bitcoin ETFs log second-largest daily outflows since launch

U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs saw $869.9 million move out on Thursday, the second-heaviest day of withdrawals since the products debuted.

Data from SoSoValue showed Grayscale’s Bitcoin Mini Trust accounting for the largest share, with $318.2 million pulled. BlackRock’s IBIT registered $256.6 million in outflows, while Fidelity’s FBTC shed $119.9 million.

Additional withdrawals were recorded across Grayscale’s GBTC as well as vehicles from Ark and 21Shares, Bitwise, VanEck, Invesco, Valkyrie and Franklin Templeton.

The latest wave of redemptions marked the group’s second-largest single-day outflow on record.

Crypto price today: altcoins sink, head for weekly losses 

Broader crypto prices sank, tracking Bitcoin, as markets saw little relief from extended weakness through October and early-November. Most altcoins were also headed for weekly declines. 

World no.2 crypto Ether slumped over 8% to $3,139.95 and was down more than 12% this week. BNB fell 4.8% and was also down about 8% this week, while XRP slid 7.7%. 

Solana and Cardano lost over 9% each, while among memetokens, Dogecoin and $TRUMP slumped 8.6% and 4.3%, respectively. 

(Ambar Warrick contributed to this report.)