Key points:
- Bitcoin Hits New Multi-Week Low, Filling July CME Futures Gap
- Traders remain divided on BTC’s next move, while U.S. trade tariffs seem to weigh more heavily on crypto than on traditional stocks.
Bitcoin dropped to fresh three-week lows on Friday as U.S. trade tariffs dampened market sentiment.
BTC Price Closes In on $114,000 CME Gap
According to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView, BTC/USD dropped to $114,322 on Bitstamp before rebounding.
This move fully filled a “gap” left in CME Group’s Bitcoin futures market from July.
As frequently observed, Bitcoin price tends to “fill” these gaps—typically formed over weekends—within days, weeks, or even just hours after the market reopens.
“We should see a nice upwards movement now,” predicted crypto investor and entrepreneur Ted Pillows in a post on X.
However, not everyone was convinced. Some traders remained cautious, suggesting Bitcoin needed to show stronger momentum to avoid the risk of further decline.
“Now that the gap is tapped, we watch closely,” wrote popular trader Cipher X on X, pointing to $104,000 as a possible downside target if BTC fails to reclaim the $116,000 level.
Meanwhile, trader Crypto Candy emphasized the importance of Friday’s daily close above the $115,000–$116,700 zone.
“If it fails to sustain, we could see a drop to the 111.8K area before the next push toward a new all-time high,” he warned.
Bitcoin Struggles as Stocks Brush Off Tariff Impact
Bitcoin dropped more sharply than traditional risk assets as the Trump administration rolled out sweeping reciprocal tariffs.
In contrast, S&P 500 futures were down just 0.4% at the time of writing, ahead of the Wall Street open.
According to trading resource The Kobeissi Letter, markets have become desensitized to trade war developments since April.
“The market says the trade war has lost all credibility,” it noted, adding that such tariffs would have likely triggered a 3% drop in the S&P just a few months ago.
Despite strong tech earnings pushing the S&P 500 into all-time high territory the previous day, both stocks and Bitcoin saw volatile price swings.
This turbulence came even as the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index—considered the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure—came in hotter than expected.
Earlier in the week, Fed Chair Jerome Powell struck a hawkish tone while leaving interest rates unchanged, leading markets to price out rate cuts in 2025 — a headwind for risk assets.
