Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation, fell 6.53 per cent to $78,719.63 as of 1748 GMT on Saturday. The decline marked a further retreat from levels seen earlier in the week and pushed the digital asset below the psychologically important $80,000 mark.
The sell-off gathered momentum on Friday, when bitcoin dropped to as low as $81,104, its weakest level since November 21. The slide followed news that former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh had been selected as the next chair of the US central bank, a development that unsettled investors across risk assets.
Market participants appear to be reassessing expectations around future monetary policy, with uncertainty over interest rate direction weighing on sentiment in cryptocurrencies, which are often sensitive to shifts in global liquidity conditions. Analysts noted that tighter or more hawkish policy signals typically reduce appetite for speculative assets, including digital currencies.
The latest move underscores the heightened volatility in the crypto market as investors react to macroeconomic signals and policy changes, even as bitcoin remains well above levels recorded earlier in the year.