Bitcoin's Price Stable Despite $1.4B Hack; Crypto ETFs Face Outflows Amid Inflation Fears

Bitcoin's price action this week was marked by a significant hack on crypto exchange Bybit, which resulted in the theft of over $1.4 billion worth of Ethereum and related tokens. This incident, coupled with U.S. inflation concerns, prompted a selloff in risk assets, including Bitcoin. Despite the dip, Bitcoin's seven-day performance remained nearly flat, with a mere 0.7% decline.

Investors continued to pull cash out of U.S. exchange-traded products (ETFs) this week, with a total of $365 million leaving the 10 funds on Thursday alone. This marked the week's worst day for flows, with outflows ranging between $60-$65 million on the other three days. The crypto ETFs lost money last week after the Federal Reserve hinted at a slower pace of interest rate cuts, and investors are expected to maintain a cautious approach to speculating with inflation persisting.

Analysts at investment firm Bernstein remain bullish on Bitcoin, predicting a further rally in the asset and equities related to it. They cited the increasing adoption of Bitcoin by banks, institutional investors, corporates, and eventually sovereigns as a driving factor for the coin's price. The firm has previously forecasted a 2025 price of $200,000 for Bitcoin by the end of the year.

Financial services company Fold, which offers a debit card and rewards users with Bitcoin for purchases, began trading publicly on the Nasdaq Composite on Wednesday. The listing signals more mainstream acceptance of the Bitcoin industry, although FLD's stock price fluctuated significantly throughout the week, falling under the $7 mark by the end of Friday amid market chaos.

The most valuable Bitcoin Runes meme coin, DOG•GO•TO•THE•MOON (DOG), became available on Solana thanks to a bridge that allows trading across both chains. The token's pseudonymous creator, Leonidas, stated that DOG was following in the footsteps of Bitcoin by becoming more available to a larger crowd. While not all Bitcoin maxis may agree with this idea, the expansion could potentially lead to a rise in the coin's price. Currently, DOG is up about 3% over the last 24 hours but has fallen sharply since hitting an all-time high price in December, down 72% since then.