Bitcoin Extends Declines Amid Soft Year-End Trading Volumes

Bitcoin extended declines on Friday amid soft year-end trading volumes, while investors stayed cautious about the prospect of cryptocurrencies after the Federal Reserve turned hawkish last week.

Bitcoin prices slipped further on Friday in a muted year-end trading session, with investors remaining wary of the crypto outlook after the Federal Reserve adopted a hawkish stance last week.

Bitcoin fell 2.1% to $96,403.7 by 01:30 ET (06:30 GMT).

Bitcoin pulled back on Thursday after markets appeared to react to faulty chart data on TradingView.

The cryptocurrency briefly dipped toward the $95,000 level after social media users noticed an anomaly on TradingView’s Bitcoin dominance chart, which showed Bitcoin's share of the total crypto market cap dropping to 0%.

The error was later corrected, but it reportedly triggered some knee-jerk trading reactions that pushed prices lower.

According to data from CoinGlass, roughly $33 million in Bitcoin long positions were liquidated over a four-hour period.

Bitcoin set for second week of declines as Trump rally stalls

Bitcoin was set to snap a two-week rally, which began after Donald Trump's victory in the U.S. presidential election, as optimism over the prospect of economic stimulus quickly waned following the Fed meeting.

The rally had pushed prices to an all-time high of $108,244.9 last week, after which prices fell amid profit-taking and broader macroeconomic pressures induced by the outlook for U.S. interest rates.

The central bank cut rates by 25 basis points but indicated only two rate cuts for the upcoming year, versus previous expectations for four cuts.

This shift prompted investors to reassess their positions in speculative assets, like Bitcoin, contributing to its price decline.

Crypto prices today: Most altcoins slipped amid liquidity concerns

Other cryptocurrencies also declined, tracking Bitcoin prices, and were set for weekly losses as demand for speculative assets remained subdued after the Fed's hawkish stance sparked liquidity concerns.

World no.2 crypto Ether fell 1.5% to $3,3379.39, after dropping nearly 5% in the previous day.

World no.3 crypto XRP declined 2.8% to $2.2187 and was set to slip nearly 4% for the week.

Solana fell 1.7% and Polygon lost 1%, while Cardano fell more than 8% to $0.8965. Among meme tokens, Dogecoin fell 2.6%.