Bitcoin
BTCUSD,
fell sharply on Friday afternoon, and remains down around 4% over the last 24 hours, trading at $23,026, according to CoinDesk data.
Other big cryptos were also down, including ether
ETHE,
which was off 3.54% in the last 24 hours and trading at $1,595.06, and dogecoin, down 4.66% in the last 24 hours, both according to CoinDesk data.
Cryptocurrencies are following the same pattern as the U.S. equities market, after inflation data showed that more interest rates hikes could be coming. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA,
S&P 500
SPX,
and Nasdaq Composite
COMP,
fell sharply and were on track for weekly losses amounting to more than 3%.
The year-over-year personal-consumption-expenditures index rose to 5.4%, up from 5.3% in December, going up for the first time in seven months. The more closely followed core index, which is the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure, saw a year-over-year rise of 4.7%, up from 4.6% in January.
Read: Inflation jumps again, PCE shows, and stays stubbornly high at over 5%
“Just when you thought Bitcoin’s correlation to equities was waning, a major reset with Fed rate hike expectations is making everything selloff,” said Edward Moya, a senior market analyst at OANDA, to MarketWatch. “Bitcoin is weakening towards the lower boundaries of this year’s trading range. Right now every risky asset is under pressure as the risks of the Fed over tightening and sending the economy into a recession are growing. Until the bond market selloff ends, cryptos broadly could be under pressure.”
Just last week, Bitcoin soared to $25,000, an eight month high, after a rally that began last month, when it increased for 14 consecutive days between Jan. 4-17.