Bitcoin (BTC-USD) briefly dipped beneath $70,000 per token on Thursday after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent instructed the US authorities wouldn’t bail out the cryptocurrency.
In a heated back-and-forth throughout a Home Monetary Providers Committee on Wednesday, Bessent was requested if the US Treasury had the authority to purchase bitcoin or different cryptos.
“I do not need the authority to do this, and as chair of FSOC, I do not need that authority,” Bessent acknowledged.
Bitcoin fell to as little as $69,525 apiece early Thursday, persevering with the droop on Wednesday that adopted Bessent’s feedback.
The decline was additionally fueled by the broader promoting strain in markets and a warning from notable investor Michael Burry {that a} sustained decline in bitcoin’s value may “set in movement a demise spiral resulting in large worth destruction.”
“Bitcoin has been uncovered as a purely speculative asset, and isn’t close to the debasement commerce hedge that gold and different valuable metals are,” Burry, who rose to prominence after predicting the 2008 monetary disaster, wrote in his Substack.
The transfer decrease on Thursday solely added to bitcoin’s latest rout. The world’s largest cryptocurrency is down almost 20% year-to-date.
Bitcoin dropped sharply final weekend to notch its fourth straight month of losses.
The transfer decrease coincided with President Trump’s announcement final Friday deciding on Kevin Warsh to guide the Federal Reserve when Jerome Powell’s time period ends in Might, a nomination markets view as hawkish.
Ether (ETH-USD) and different digital tokens additionally slid.
Learn extra: Easy methods to navigate a crypto meltdown
After bitcoin earlier broke via the important thing assist degree at $73,000, 10X Analysis strategists wrote that “present flows recommend sentiment has shifted meaningfully.”
The agency’s strategists pointed to circulate and positioning information, which indicated “traders will not be but positioned to purchase the dip.”
“Whereas sentiment and technical indicators are approaching excessive ranges, the broader downtrend stays intact,” the researchers wrote. “Within the absence of a transparent catalyst, there’s little urgency to step in.”
The agency famous that merchants stay centered on deleveraging and unwinding their positions somewhat than on getting ready for a typical snapback rally.
Strain on digital property mirrored the broader fragility throughout the crypto market. Apart from a quick bounce final month, bitcoin has struggled since October, when whale promoting and compelled liquidations swept via the business.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent testifies throughout the Home Monetary Providers Committee on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Name, Inc through Getty Pictures) · Tom Williams through Getty Pictures
Fundstrat head of digital property Sean Farrell stated the mid-$70,000 area stands out as a logical assist zone, provided that round $74,000 was the intraday excessive in March 2024 and the intraday low in April 2025 throughout the tariff-driven sell-off.
“All else equal, the degrees reached over the weekend and the diploma of capitulation noticed create a extra engaging near-term danger/reward,” Farrell wrote in a Monday notice.
The strategist stated the pullback may warrant a “modest” deployment of dry powder however warned that circumstances are nonetheless trending decrease, with an “ample quantity of positioning danger in conventional markets that might adversely have an effect on crypto markets.”
Ines Ferre is a senior enterprise reporter for Yahoo Finance. Observe her on X at @ines_ferre.
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