The world's largest cryptocurrency finished the trading week with one of its sharpest drops in recent months. At the time of writing, the price of Bitcoin was approximately $64,500, whereas a week earlier it stood at $75,750. Thus, in seven days, the coin has lost about 15% of its value, marking a new low last seen in mid-August. The decline occurred against the backdrop of a strengthening dollar, growing expectations of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike, and a massive sell-off of technology stocks on US exchanges.
Weekly Dynamics: From $75,750 to $64,500
The most intense decline occurred in the second half of the week. Following the announcement of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's resignation, Bitcoin prices dropped below the $72,000 mark, and by Friday, the price had fallen to approximately $67,600. A brief recovery above $70,000, recorded after the publication of the US Producer Price Index (PPI), failed to reverse the overall downward trend. On Saturday, the decline continued: first the price dropped to around $65,200, and then to $64,500. According to ixbt, on Saturday afternoon, Bitcoin was trading near $65,000, its lowest level since the summer; in the last 24 hours, the largest cryptocurrency has lost more than 5%, and nearly 14% over the week. At the same time, the price fell below the 200-week moving average (around $68,000) — a benchmark closely monitored by many long-term investors. Compared to the all-time high of approximately $126,000 reached in October 2025, Bitcoin is currently trading almost 49% lower.
Macro Factors: Fed Rate, Dollar, and Tech Sector
One of the key factors pressuring the crypto market has been expectations of further tightening of US monetary policy. According to CoinDesk, on Friday, traders estimated the probability of a 0.25 percentage point Fed rate hike in December at 88%, and a 0.5 percentage point hike at 12%. The Dollar Index (DXY) rose to its highest level since April 2025. The logic behind the impact is clear: higher interest rates increase the attractiveness of risk-free, interest-bearing instruments, reducing interest in assets that do not generate cash flow, including Bitcoin. An additional trigger was the tech sector sell-off: on Friday, iShares Semiconductor ETF shares fell by more than 3%, AMD stock by more than 8%, and the Nasdaq 100 index lost 1.22%. Bitcoin fell alongside other risky assets, so attributing the drop solely to events around Nvidia would be inaccurate.
Outflows from Spot ETFs and Forced Liquidations
Additional pressure on the crypto market was caused by massive outflows from US spot Bitcoin funds. According to Farside Investors data cited by CoinDesk, investors withdrew about $1.44 billion from these instruments in the six trading sessions through Thursday. The price drop was accompanied by forced liquidation of positions by traders using borrowed funds (margin liquidations), which in turn exacerbated the downward trend and created a snowball effect over short time frames.
Altcoins and Total Market Capitalization
Altcoins suffered significantly more than Bitcoin over the week. In the last 24 hours, Hyperliquid, Cardano, Solana, and Zcash lost nearly 10% of their value; the price of XRP dropped below $1, and Ethereum below $1,850. Only Tron and LEO (the crypto exchange Bitfinex token) remained relatively stable. Zcash led the weekly decline, losing more than 31%, followed by Bitcoin Cash, Solana, and Ethereum, each of which fell by approximately 18–19%. According to CoinGecko, the entire cryptocurrency market dropped by more than 7% in 24 hours, and its total capitalization decreased to around $2.22 trillion.
What's Next: Nvidia Earnings and Weekend Liquidity
The next important event for the market will be the publication of Nvidia's quarterly earnings, which could set the tone for the entire tech sector and, by association, for Bitcoin. During the weekend, cryptocurrency trading continues while US stock markets are closed, typically with lower liquidity, which can increase volatility in either direction—further decline or a rebound. In the coming days, the key indicators for investors will remain the dynamics of the Dollar Index, Fed rate futures, and fund flows into spot Bitcoin ETFs.
