Wall Street has pushed to fresh record highs as inflation cools and traders dial back expectations for a Federal Reserve rate hike in September, conditions that would normally favor speculative assets.
So why is Bitcoin refusing to follow stocks higher? Let’s examine what is holding BTC back and what it could mean for its price heading into next week.
Bitcoin Is Facing Its Own Demand Problem
BTC fell from around $65,000 on Monday to as low as $62,470 (data from Bitstamp) by Friday. In contrast, the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 closed the week approximately 1% higher.
Sandeep Pyapali, founder and CEO of payments firm Mesta, told Barron’s this week’s PPI and jobless-claims data was a “clean dovish signal” combining cooler inflation with a weakening labor market.
But he noted that crypto, unlike US stocks, failed to respond as expected, citing weak underlying demand and continued ETF outflows as structural headwinds.