Bitcoin drops back to $65,000! PPI exceeds expectations and Nvidia's sharp decline drag down, Solana, XRP, and Dogecoin all pull back collectively

February 28 News: Due to the US Producer Price Index (PPI) rising unexpectedly and Nvidia’s earnings report causing a continuous decline in stock prices, risk assets came under pressure before the weekend. Bitcoin’s price, which approached $70,000 this Wednesday, quickly retreated. On Saturday morning in Asia, Bitcoin briefly fell to $65,735, down about 3% for the day, with a weekly decline of 2.8%, erasing most of the previous rebound gains.

Altcoins experienced even sharper declines. Solana dropped 6.7%, Ethereum fell 6.2%, Dogecoin declined 5.1%, XRP decreased 4%, and most mainstream tokens closed the week in the red, weakening the positive signal of altcoins outperforming Bitcoin earlier. BNB was relatively resilient, only pulling back about 2.5%. Leverage in the crypto market reaccumulated during the rebound, but was quickly liquidated during this pullback.

On the macro front, US PPI monthly increase rose to 0.5%, exceeding market expectations, reinforcing the view that inflation remains sticky and reducing the likelihood of the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates in the near term. Meanwhile, the three major US stock indices declined simultaneously, with Nvidia’s stock dropping another 4.2%, putting pressure on the tech sector. Block Inc. announced large-scale layoffs, further fueling market concerns about AI replacing jobs.

Notably, despite the price correction, US spot Bitcoin ETF saw net inflows of about $1.1 billion over three days, marking a strong weekly performance in recent months. However, institutional capital inflows still struggle to fully offset macro pressures. Bitcoin financial company BOB co-founder Dom Harz pointed out that short-term volatility should not be overinterpreted, as the Bitcoin market structure is changing.

On-chain data shows that exchange USDT reserves have fallen from $60 billion to $51.1 billion. If it drops below $50 billion, it could trigger larger sell-offs. Currently, Bitcoin has returned to trading within the $60,000 to $70,000 range, with market focus shifting to whether the support at the lower end is stable and whether March can restart upward momentum.