Cryptocurrency markets have experienced sharp fluctuations in recent days due to successive inflation data and the impact of the meeting between Trump and Xi Jinping. Bitcoin has made a significant pullback, breaking below the $80,000 threshold, which has been a strong support point for a week.
Shock Drop in Prices and Performance of Leading Cryptocurrencies
At Asian hours on Thursday, Bitcoin traded at $79,200. This corresponds to a loss of 2.3 percent in value in 24 hours and 2.2 percent in the last seven days. BTC’s fall below 80 thousand dollars stood out as a remarkable decline after the stable course observed over the past week. According to CryptoAppsy data, while this decline in Bitcoin shook the confidence of investors, serious declines were also recorded in other major cryptocurrencies.
Solana dropped by 5.6 percent to $90 and almost completely gave back its rise in the last two weeks. Ethereum fell 2.1 percent to $2,250, making it the weakest performer after Bitcoin, losing 3 percent on a weekly basis. Binance Coin fell 1.6 percent to $660, but still maintained a significant weekly gain. XRP, on the other hand, decreased by 1.7 percent to $1.43. Dogecoin was the only plus among the majors; It closed at $0.1126 with an increase of 0.9 percent.
Geopolitical Developments Disrupted Risk Perception
Behind this selling pressure is US President Donald Trump’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing. This visit has historical significance as it is the first time a US President has gone to China after almost a decade. During the meeting, Xi drew attention to the Taiwan issue and gave the message that “conflict or greater tensions” could occur if the issue is handled incorrectly.
The official statement made by China was shared with the public before the end of the meeting, and the Taiwan issue shook the global risk perception.
This statement negatively affected the global risk appetite, especially the crypto market. Stock markets in Asia also fluctuated with these developments; While the MSCI Asia Pacific index rose by 0.8 percent in the morning hours, it fell by 0.1 percent at the end of the session. Although stocks in mainland China saw their highest level since 2021 before the meeting, they experienced a decrease of 1.3 percent in the overall picture.
Inflation Data Makes Fed’s Steps Difficult
The sell-off in the crypto market was further strengthened as inflation data from the US remained above expectations. The producer price index, announced on Wednesday, increased by 1.4 percent on a monthly basis and reached 6 percent on an annual basis. This result is well above the expectation of 0.5 percent. Tuesday’s consumer prices rose to 3.8 percent, the highest level in the last three years.
These inflation surprises make it difficult for the US Federal Reserve to cut interest rates towards the end of the year. While hopes for interest rate cuts, which have long been seen as a supportive factor in the market, have diminished, this has also dealt a blow to the long-term positive expectations on crypto assets.
Despite all these developments, investment appetite for technology and artificial intelligence brought a new record in Asian stocks. While Nasdaq futures increased by 0.2 percent, Cisco shares rose by 20 percent with the sales target coming above expectations.
The next support point for Bitcoin stands out as $78 thousand. This level is considered as the bottom zone seen at the beginning of May. If the price falls below this level, the hard selling zone at the end of April may come to the fore. If it can hold on, investors’ positive expectations will be closely monitored along with new macroeconomic data and developments regarding the summit meeting.
