Bitcoin Plunges More Than 10% Since Hitting $70K 72 Hours Ago

Bitcoin {{BTC}} continued its sharp pullback after a fast start to the week, with its price falling to a two-week low of $62,700.

At press time, bitcoin was down 5.5% in the past 24 hours, lagging the broader CoinDesk 20 Index’s 6.1% decline. Ether {{ETH}} was down 5.8%, Solana {{SOL}} was down 10% and XRP {{XRP}} was down 10%. It was about 72 hours ago that bitcoin hit a four-month peak just above $70,000.

Markets received some nominally good news on Thursday morning, with the U.S. July ISM Manufacturing PMI falling much more than economist expectations and interest rates generally reaching multi-month lows. Additionally, initial jobless claims in the U.S. jumped to their highest level in nearly a year. Taken together, the data contribute to the idea that the U.S. is on the verge of a quantitative easing cycle by the Federal Reserve — generally considered bullish for risk assets, bitcoin among them.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said yesterday that if economic growth and inflation continue to slow, interest rates may be cut in September.

In other news, the Bank of England on Thursday cut its benchmark lending rate for the first time in four years, joining the quantitative easing campaign launched by the Bank of Canada and the European Central Bank in early 2024.

Bitcoin Bulls Assess Trump’s Chances of Victory in Fall

More broadly, Bitcoin’s surge to $70,000 on Monday followed excitement over the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville and Republican Party candidate Donald Trump’s promise to support all things Bitcoin and even consider having the government hold the crypto as a strategic asset.

This is all well and good, but bitcoin bulls need to consider that Trump’s chances of victory are no longer what they were two weeks ago when his opponent was Joe Biden. According to Polymarket, new Democratic nominee Kamala Harris’ chances of winning the election have steadily increased over the week, reaching the current 44%. Trump’s chances of victory have fallen from 70% just two weeks ago to 55%.

It remains to be seen whether the Harris administration will oppose Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies as harshly as the Biden administration, but the likelihood of an industry-friendly president emerging in 2025 has diminished.