Cryptocurrencies Plunge 4-7% as Inflation Fears Hit Markets

Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies experienced a significant decline on Friday, with top coins reaching their lowest prices in at least a week. This downturn coincided with similar movements in stock markets, which were also affected by hotter-than-expected inflation data.

The price of Bitcoin dipped to $83,609 early Friday afternoon and was down about 4% on the day, with a current price of $83,736. Although it was down just 0.4% on the week, the Friday slide cooled the rising momentum seen in recent days. Other top coins showed sharper losses over the past day, with Ethereum down 6% to $1,875 and XRP falling about 7% to $2.17. Both Ethereum and XRP reached weekly lows on Friday alongside Bitcoin.

Solana and Dogecoin also experienced declines, with Solana down 6% and Dogecoin down 4.5% over the past day. Despite these losses, both coins remained up over the last week.

Amid the declines, crypto liquidations surged over the past day, tallying more than $450 million. Long positions made up the bulk of the liquidations at $402 million, with Ethereum being the biggest contributor at $136 million worth in total. Bitcoin followed with $118 million in liquidations.

Both the Dow and S&P 500 indices were down more than 2% on Friday, as traders reacted to continued inflation fears and the impact of trade tariffs on other nations. The Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index (PCE) rose 0.4% in February, which was higher than expected and the biggest monthly leap in more than a year.

Crypto stocks took much harder hits than the broader markets, with Strategy (MSTR) down about 10% on the day and Coinbase falling by nearly 7%.