Bitcoin Stumbles This Week After $30,000 Threshold Fails to Hold

Bitcoin is ending the week on a down note after failing to sustain momentum once it pushed past $30,000 for the first time since June.

The largest cryptocurrency by market value has dropped about 10% since last Sunday to around $27,300, rounding out its first weekly loss in four. Bitcoin had climbed as high as $31,013 on March 14, and has surged around 65% this year, helping to soften the blow from a similar-sized decline in 2022.

The weekly drop comes amid improving bank deposits, a fluctuating outlook for higher interest rates and a risk-on rally in some US stocks.

“Bitcoin saw a loss of short-term momentum earlier this week, which has given way to a corrective phase,” said Will Tamplin, senior analyst at Fairlead Strategies.

“The one concern is whether the rally to $30k was merely due to the liquidity injection from the Fed after the failure of SVB, or if it’s the start of a new bull run for Bitcoin,” said Matt Maley, chief market strategist at Miller Tabak Co.

Elsewhere, Ether shed 5% on Friday and smaller tokens like also Solana and Avalanche suffered declines. Crypto-related stocks such as Coinbase Global, Marathon Digital and MicroStrategy also slumped on the week.

“As we move towards narratives surrounding risks of recession, I think we’re seeing riskier assets come under pressure and that does include Bitcoin,” said Fiona Cincotta, senior financial markets analyst at City Index.