The crypto market opened the week under pressure on Monday. Traders are staying cautious because several major macroeconomic updates are coming up, including the Federal Reserve meeting minutes and the core PCE inflation report.
Bitcoin moved lower ahead of the busy week and hovered near $68,200, down almost 3% over the past 24 hours at the time of writing. At the same time, top altcoins such as XRP and ether dropped even more. The broader sell-off was widespread, with 85 out of the top 100 coins by market cap in the red. Privacy coins also took a hit, with monero falling roughly 10% and zcash down around 8%.
Smart contract coins didn’t escape the weakness either. A major index tracking smart contract platforms slid close to 6%, pushing its year-to-date decline to about 28%.
This pullback looks even more disappointing because last week’s U.S. inflation numbers were softer and kept expectations of Fed rate cuts alive. Official data showed CPI slowed to 2.4% year-over-year in January, compared with 2.7% in December. That slowdown increased market bets on at least two 25-basis-point cuts this year. As a result, the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield dropped to around 4.05%, its lowest level since early December.
Bitcoin initially responded well. It climbed from roughly $66,800 on Friday to above $70,000 over the weekend. However, it failed to stay above that level and fell back again.
A leader from a regulated crypto exchange in India described the problem as weak follow-through demand. Buyers are picking spots carefully, and traders are cutting leverage first. Because of that, dips get bought only near obvious support areas, and rallies struggle to hold momentum.
Macro-Heavy Week Ahead
Now the focus shifts to the key economic releases that could steer the next move:
- Fed minutes from the January meeting
- Core PCE inflation data, the Fed’s preferred inflation measure
These reports can quickly change rate expectations, which often drives short-term moves across crypto and broader financial markets.
Yen Moves May Matter for Bitcoin
In global markets, a prominent strategist at a major asset management firm has turned bullish on the Japanese yen, projecting an 8%–9% rise, especially versus the Swiss franc. Since the yen and bitcoin have shown an unusually strong positive correlation in recent months, any sustained yen strength could become an important trigger that helps bitcoin bulls.
