Investing.com– Bitcoin slid on Monday and traded in a narrow range after clocking steep losses last week, as traders remained cautious amid macroeconomic pressures induced by hawkish comments from the Federal Reserve.
Bitcoin fell around 2% to $95,278.0 by 08:46 ET (13:46 GMT).
It fell below the $100,000 mark on Thursday after the Fed officials signaled a slower pace for future cuts. The world’s largest cryptocurrency has fallen for five out of the last six days.
Fed’s hawkish shift drags Bitcoin from record highs
The Federal Reserve signaled a more hawkish stance, indicating only two interest rate cuts for the upcoming year, compared to prior expectations of two cuts.
This shift has led investors to reassess their positions in speculative assets like Bitcoin, contributing to its price decline.
Meanwhile, incoming U.S. President Donald Trump congratulated the crypto market on hitting a record peak of over $108,000, while speaking at an event in Phoenix.
Profit-taking also weighed on Bitcoin after it surged to record highs last week. Prospects of a strategic Bitcoin reserve had pushed prices to an all-time high of $108,244.9 on Tuesday, after which prices fell steadily.
It was the first weekly fall for Bitcoin since Trump’s election victory.
Trump nominates key figures for crypto policy
President-elect Donald Trump has nominated key figures for defense and crypto policy in his upcoming administration.
Michael Kratsios has been nominated to lead the Office of Science and Technology Policy. Kratsios, formerly with Scale AI, held tech-related roles in Trump’s first term and has been involved in the federal downsizing initiative led by Elon Musk.
Lynne Parker, Kratsios’ former deputy, will head the Presidential Council of Advisers for Science and Technology (PCAST), and Bo Hines, a former athlete and Republican congressional candidate, will lead the new Crypto Council.
Both councils will report to David Sacks, the “crypto czar,” who will divide his time between the White House and Silicon Valley.
Trump’s Truth Social posts on Sunday highlighted these and other personnel announcements as he prepares for his inauguration next month.
Crypto price today: altcoins in the red as liquidity concerns remain
Other cryptocurrencies were largely down on Monday but moved in a close range as investors were still assessing the outlook for speculative assets after the hawkish Fed rattled investor sentiment.
Most altcoins have declined for several consecutive sessions, in line with Bitcoin’s movement.
World no.2 crypto Ether fell to $3,310.15, while world no.3 crypto XRP fell 4% to $2.178.
On the other hand, Solana lost 2.4% and Polygon declined 3.1%, while Cardano dropped 3.4%.
Among meme tokens, Dogecoin dipped 3.5%.
North Korea hackers stole over $1.3bn of crypto in 2024, report shows
In other crypto-related news, North Korean hackers are believed to be behind 61% of cryptocurrency thefts this year, according to Chainalysis.
A recent report from the blockchain analysis firm highlights that hackers linked to North Korea stole around $660.5 million across 20 incidents in 2023. In 2024, that figure surged to $1.34 billion across 47 incidents, marking a 102.88% jump. This represents the highest annual total ever attributed to hackers from the country.
So far this year, North Korean actors have been tied to 47 crypto hacks, accounting for roughly two-thirds of all such incidents.
