Investing.com– Bitcoin fell on Friday and was set for a second straight week of losses as risk appetite for cryptocurrencies was battered by concerns over U.S.-China trade tensions and potential credit risks.
Crypto markets tracked declines in broader risk-driven assets, with Wall Street and global stock markets retreating on rising economic uncertainty. An ongoing U.S. government shutdown weighed on sentiment, especially with the delay of several key economic readings.
Bitcoin fell 1.9% to $108,830.2 by 01:37 ET (05:37 GMT). The world’s largest crypto was set to lose about 1.7% this week, after clocking a 10% drop in the prior week.
Bitcoin struggled to advance after a flash crash wiped out nearly half a trillion dollars of crypto market capitalization last week, dragging the world’s biggest crypto as low as $103,000. The crash stemmed from heightened U.S.-China trade tensions, and also saw a record-high, $16 billion liquidation of long positions.
While the coin did recoup some losses this week, especially on the back of dovish signals from the Federal Reserve, it and broader crypto markets remained squarely on the backfoot.
Bitcoin also traded well below early-October record highs of over $126,000.
Risk aversion increased this week amid growing concerns over credit risks in regional U.S. banks. Said concerns sparked deep losses in U.S. bank stocks on Thursday, and spilled over into broader markets.
Ripple Labs seen seeking $1 bln funding for XRP buying
XRP issuer Ripple Labs is leading efforts to raise $1 billion in funding to build a stockpile of the token, Bloomberg reported on Friday.
While more buy actions bode well for XRP, the token showed little positive reaction to the report, falling 3.7% to $2.3385. The token also remained close to a 11-month low hit during last week’s flash crash.
Bloomberg reported the money will be raised through a special purpose acquisition vehicle, while Ripple will also contribute some of its own XRP to the stockpile.
XRP was trading down nearly 2% this week after a 19.8% slump last week.
Crypto price today: altcoins sink, but off last week’s lows
Broader crypto prices fell tracking Bitcoin on Friday, although they were trading above lows hit last week.
World no.2 crypto Ether fell 3.7% to $3,889.0, while Binance’s BNB fell 5.2% to $1,127.0.
Cardano and Solana fell more than 5% each.
Among memecoins, Dogecoin fell 5.7% and $TRUMP fell 3.7%.
