Bitcoin's recent price drop below $57,000 was mainly caused by the U.S. Federal Reserve's reluctance to cut interest rates, as indicated in the minutes from its June meeting. Higher interest rates are generally unfavorable for cryptocurrencies, as they dampen investor risk appetite.
The Federal Reserve's June meeting minutes revealed officials' reluctance to lower interest rates until additional data shows inflation moving sustainably toward the central bank's 2% target1. This caused Bitcoin's price to slump to around $57,000, hitting a two-month low, as higher interest rates are typically less favorable for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies due to dampened investor risk appetite3.
Bitcoin's all-time high price was reached in March 2024, when it hit $73,084. This milestone came after the approval of the first U.S. spot bitcoin ETF, which helped boost the cryptocurrency's legitimacy and attract more institutional investors.