TOPLINE
Bitcoin fell below $35,000 Saturday morning to its lowest level since July as a selloff continues in which the cryptocurrency has fallen almost 50% since its record high in November.
KEY FACTS
Bitcoin reached a low of $34,020 around 5:15 a.m., according to CoinGecko, before rebounding to $34,614 at 12:58 p.m. ET, bringing its decline to 9.9% over the past 24 hours.
Since it touched a record high of $69,044 in November, the leading cryptocurrency has lost more than $600 billion in market value.
Other top digital currencies have continued their recent swoon, with Etherum off 13.3% over the past 24 hours and Binance Coin down 15.2%, according to CoinGecko.
KEY BACKGROUND
Investors sold cryptocurrencies earlier this month when the Federal Reserve announced it may move more quickly than expected to remove pandemic-era stimulus due to high levels of inflation. Crypto experts warned the currencies could be extremely volatile over the next few weeks, and Oanda Senior Market Analyst Ed Moya said in an email to Forbes, “The long-term outlook is still bullish for both the top two cryptocurrencies, but the short-term is looking ugly.”
TANGENT
El Salvadorian President Nayib Bukele said his country purchased 410 bitcoin for $15 million on Friday, saying in an emoji-laden tweet that the selloff had left the cryptocurrency “really cheap.” El Salvador became the first country to accept bitcoin as legal tender in September.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
Bloomberg reports the Biden administration is preparing to release a government-wide strategy for digital assets as soon as next month. The administration will task federal agencies with risk and opportunity assessments as part of an executive order, people familiar with the plans told Bloomberg.