Bitcoin prices slipped again on Friday, extending this week’s steep losses as investor sentiment weakened on doubts over potential U.S. interest rate cuts ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s highly anticipated Jackson Hole address.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency has dropped nearly 4% so far this week, pressured by heavy profit-taking after reaching record highs earlier in August. Broader crypto markets also retreated on Friday and were on track for weekly declines.
A report suggesting that China may explore state-backed, yuan-pegged stablecoins offered little relief. The country has banned all crypto trading since 2021, limiting the impact of such speculation.
At 01:29 ET (05:29 GMT), Bitcoin was down 0.9% at $112,943.4.
Bitcoin slips as Fed uncertainty weighs on risk assets
The latest decline reflects fading expectations for a September rate cut. According to CME’s FedWatch tool, markets now price in a 73.1% chance of a 25-basis-point cut, sharply lower than the over 90% odds seen last week.
Minutes from the Fed’s late-July meeting revealed that most policymakers favored keeping rates steady for now. Powell has also refrained from committing to future cuts, highlighting uncertainty around the inflationary effects of President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Signs of resilience in the U.S. economy, including stronger-than-expected August PMI data, further dampened hopes for imminent easing. Prolonged high interest rates are typically negative for speculative assets like cryptocurrencies, as they reduce liquidity and discourage risk-taking.
Bitcoin previously suffered heavy losses during the Fed’s rate hikes in 2022–2023, but surged strongly once the central bank began easing in 2024.
Altcoins follow Bitcoin lower
The selloff spread across major altcoins. Ether dropped 0.9% to $4,277.18, down 3.2% this week. XRP fell 2.2% and was set to lose 7.6% over the week. Cardano and Solana each shed 2.5%, trading more than 7% lower for the week.
Among meme tokens, Dogecoin slipped 2.8%, while $TRUMP fell 4.6%.
