Bitcoin price falls below $61,000 after one of its worst weeks this year

Bitcoin briefly dropped below $61,000 on Monday morning as the cryptocurrency continues to shed value.

Bitcoin’s price fell to as low as $60,860 — its lowest level in more than a month — before trading at $61,037 in Monday morning trading in London. The cryptocurrency’s price has dropped almost 4% in the past day. Bitcoin has fallen roughly 8% over the last week.

Monday’s slide comes after one of crypto’s worst weeks of 2024 so far, as the global cryptocurrency market shed tens of billions of dollars in value. Overall, the global crypto market cap has slipped 4.7% in the last day, bringing its market cap to $2.24 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap. An index containing the 100 biggest cryptocurrencies fell about 5% in the week through Sunday, its steepest such decline since April, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Crypto watchers were eagerly anticipating new all-time highs for Bitcoin, which traded above $71,000 earlier this month. But in a somewhat surprise turn, the popular cryptocurrency, and the wider crypto market, have largely cooled. In recent weeks, it has continued to steady declines. Bitcoin dropped below $66,000 last week, extending declines from a dip the prior week brought about by the latest Consumer Price Index data and the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision.

Despite the short-term volatility, Bitcoin is up 38% this year.

Uncertainty over monetary policy has been driving much of the volatility around Bitcoin and other altcoins. While annual inflation has slowed to 3.3% year-over-year, it has remained well above the Fed’s 2% target. Given stubbornly high prices, Fed officials decided earlier this month to keep the benchmark federal funds rate steady between 5.25% and 5.5%, forecasting just one rate cut in 2024.

It’s not just Bitcoin. Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, also fell 5% on Monday morning, coming in at around $3,320. Other major cryptocurrencies, including Solana, Dogecoin, and Cardano, all saw declines between 4% and 6%.