Bitcoin continued to lose ground on Friday, falling below a key average as risk remained on the defensive, pushing Treasury yields to their lowest level in several months.
The top cryptocurrency by market value fell below its 200-day simple moving average of around $107,500, extending losses to $106,900, according to CoinDesk data. Prices were down 7% for the week, following last week’s 6.5% drop. Other tokens such as XRP, SOL, and ETH also extended their losses, bringing their respective weekly declines to 9-12%.
The BTC losses follow outflows of more than $500 million from U.S.-listed spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs), amid growing signs of liquidity strains in the financial system.
The price weakness is consistent with bearish signals from technical charts that suggest a possibility of a fall below $100,000 in the coming days.
Futures contracts linked to Wall Street’s benchmark stock index, the S&P 500, fell nearly 1%. The index was dragged lower by banking stocks Thursday after Zions Bancorp and Western Alliance Bancorp revealed links to exposure to fraud-related loans, stoking fears of greater fraud in the system.
Risk aversion catalyzed demand for bonds, pushing the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield down to 3.94%, its lowest level since April. Bond prices and yields move in the opposite direction.
Earlier this week, the Philadelphia Fed’s manufacturing index fell 36 points to -12.8, indicating a slowdown in activity and triggering concerns about the economy. This also increased demand for longer-term Treasuries.
