KEY POINTS
- Bitcoin fell to about $68,500 on Friday, its lowest level in 12 weeks, down roughly 9.5% over the week.
- Futures pricing showed a 91.9% chance of a quarter-point Fed hike in December after core CPI came in at 0.3%.
- U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded six straight sessions of net outflows, totaling about $1.49 billion between November 5 and 12.
Bitcoin fell to about $68,500 on Friday, its lowest price in 12 weeks, as fresh worries about U.S. inflation and money leaving investment funds pushed the market lower, Decrypt reported. According to market data cited by the outlet, BTC was down roughly 4.5% over 24 hours and about 9.5% on the week.
The selling extended to other large tokens. Ethereum traded near $1,925, while Solana slipped below $80. The decline has erased most of Bitcoin's late-summer recovery, though the price is still around 16% above its late-June low near $59,000, even after dropping about 21% from an autumn peak near $86,000.
Comments from Federal Reserve officials fed the cautious mood. Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said inflation had spread beyond energy and tariffs, pointing to rising services and medical costs and to demand from AI data centers. Asked whether inflation was heading back to 2%, he said, as quoted by Reuters, that he felt it was not. Goolsbee did not explicitly back a December rate hike.
Fed Governor Christopher Waller was more direct. On Tuesday he said he supported raising rates by at least 25 basis points at the December 8-9 meeting, and that a larger move might be needed if October core CPI came in around 0.3% or higher. The report showed core CPI up 0.3%, above the 0.2% forecast.
Futures-based probabilities as of November 13 put the odds of a quarter-point increase at 91.9% and a half-point increase at 8.1%. Decrypt noted these figures reflect trader expectations rather than a Fed decision. The central bank's target range is currently 3.75% to 4.00%. Friday's producer-price report also drew attention: wholesale prices rose 0.3% in October, less than forecast, but were up 6.5% from a year earlier, the biggest annual rise since 2022.
Fund flows added to the pressure. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs logged six consecutive sessions of net outflows totaling about $1.49 billion between November 5 and November 12, including $47.7 million on Thursday. The funds still hold roughly $55.5 billion in cumulative net inflows, so the data points to nervousness rather than an exit by institutions.
On the technical side, Decrypt described a daily chart of lower highs and lower lows. The relative strength index fell to 25.4, a level generally seen as oversold, while the average directional index stood at 25.3, indicating an established trend. The 50-day exponential moving average remains above the 200-day, but the price has dropped below the shorter average.
Immediate support is near $67,650, Friday's intraday low, with a deeper area around $64,000. On the upside, Bitcoin would need to regain $70,815 and $72,775 before testing resistance between $74,355 and $75,937. Decrypt said oversold readings leave room for a temporary bounce but do not show a bottom. Traders now await the Fed's November 18 meeting minutes and the November 25 PCE inflation report.
