The British pound fell in European trading on Wednesday against a basket of global currencies, extending its losses for a fourth consecutive session against the U.S. dollar, as the greenback strengthened ahead of the release of the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting minutes, which are expected to shed new light on the likelihood of a rate cut in December.

Following bleak U.K. labor-market and growth data, expectations for a Bank of England rate cut in December have risen. Investors are now awaiting October inflation data, due later today, to reassess those probabilities.

Price Overview

The pound fell around 0.2% against the dollar to 1.3129 dollars, down from its opening level of 1.3150 dollars, after hitting an intraday high of 1.3151 dollars.

Sterling lost about 0.1% against the dollar on Tuesday, marking its third straight daily decline, as investors focused on buying the U.S. dollar as the best available return in the FX market.

U.S. Dollar

The dollar index rose 0.1% on Wednesday, extending gains for a fourth straight session to reach a one-week high, reflecting continued strength in the U.S. currency against major and minor peers.

Investors will closely examine today’s Fed minutes, which are expected to provide new clues on the December rate decision.

Hawkish remarks from several Fed officials last week pushed down the probability of a 25-basis-point cut in December from 67% to about 47%.

President Donald Trump renewed his criticism of Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday, saying: “I’d really like to remove the guy who’s there now… but someone is blocking me.” Powell’s term ends in May.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday that Trump will meet the final shortlist of candidates for Fed Chair after the Thanksgiving holiday and may announce his pick before Christmas.

U.K. Interest Rates

Recent data showed rising unemployment and weak economic growth in the U.K. during the third quarter, easing pressure on the Bank of England to maintain its restrictive stance.

Following the data, market pricing for a 25-basis-point BoE rate cut in December rose from 60% to 75%.

U.K. Inflation Data

To reprice rate expectations, investors are awaiting key October inflation figures due later today.

At 07:00 GMT, headline CPI is expected to rise 3.5% year-on-year in October, down from 3.8% in September. Core CPI is expected at 3.4% versus 3.5% the previous month.

Pound Outlook

At Economies.com, we expect that if U.K. inflation data comes in below market forecasts, the probability of a December BoE rate cut will rise further, adding additional downward pressure on the British pound.

The Japanese yen rose in Asian trading on Wednesday against a basket of major and minor currencies, as it attempted to recover from its nine-month low against the U.S. dollar. The currency is heading toward its first gain in four sessions, supported by increased buying at lower levels and renewed demand for safe-haven assets amid a global equities selloff.

Following the first official meeting between newly appointed Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda, the two sides signaled initial alignment on the need to achieve sustainable economic growth and stable prices.

Price Overview

The dollar fell about 0.15% against the yen to 155.21 yen, down from the opening price of 155.45 yen, after hitting a high of 155.59 yen earlier in the session.

The yen ended Tuesday’s trading down 0.2% against the dollar, its third consecutive daily loss, after touching a nine-month low of 155.73 yen amid continued hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials.

Global Equities

Global stock markets have come under heavy pressure this week, with the S&P 500 posting four straight days of losses due to mounting concerns over lofty valuations in artificial-intelligence-linked stocks.

Adding to market anxiety, Tuesday’s initial jobless-claims data showed a sharp rise in the number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits between mid-September and mid-October.

Takaichi–Ueda

The first meeting between Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and BoJ Governor Kazuo Ueda offered several important signals for markets. Ueda stressed that the central bank will maintain its gradual approach to policy normalization, relying entirely on economic data before making any decision on interest-rate hikes.

He also noted that the relationship between wage growth and inflation is beginning to rebalance, supporting the case for policy adjustments without shocking the economy.

Takaichi expressed understanding of the BoJ’s stance and emphasized the importance of close cooperation between the government and the central bank to ensure sustainable growth and price stability.

Both sides also discussed the impact of recent yen fluctuations, underscoring the need for close monitoring to ensure the currency remains in a range consistent with economic fundamentals.

This meeting represents an important step in shaping Japan’s next phase of monetary policy, with markets highly sensitive to any signals regarding interest rates or currency movements.

Views and Analysis

Keisuke Tsuruta, senior bond strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities, said delaying BoJ rate hikes could lead to further yen weakness and higher import costs—running counter to Takaichi’s goal of boosting real wages.

Japanese Interest Rates

Market pricing for a 25-basis-point rate hike by the Bank of Japan in December currently stands around 35%.

Investors are awaiting additional data on inflation, unemployment, and wage trends in Japan to reassess these expectations.

Bitcoin, the original cryptocurrency, has officially entered a bear market at the start of this month after falling 22% from its October peak near 126,000 dollars.

After having been up as much as 35% since the start of the year, the latest decline has reduced gains to less than 4% as of Friday.

Selling accelerated this week, with Bitcoin dropping to around 94,700 dollars on Friday—its lowest trading level in nearly six months.

A Bitcoin bear market

Pressure on Bitcoin has intensified as long-term holders appear increasingly willing to close positions and lock in profits after massive gains in recent years.

Jerry O’Shea, Head of Global Markets Insights at Hashdex Asset Management, said: “Bitcoin has come under pressure from long-term holders taking profits, along with uncertainty surrounding Federal Reserve policy, liquidity conditions, and other macro factors.”

Bitcoin has failed to mount any meaningful rebound since the sudden October 10 crash triggered when President Donald Trump reignited his trade war with China. According to Peter Chung, head of Presto Research, some buyers and sellers left the market after that episode, reducing order-book depth and making prices more volatile.

Chung wrote in an email: “Bitcoin is under pressure just like other high-risk assets (see AI-stock movements), but the downside has been amplified by a crypto-specific factor—order books have thinned out after the October 10 liquidations, which hurt many market makers.”

The road back — so far

Until a few weeks ago, 2025 had been a relatively strong year for Bitcoin. The token was trading near 69,000 dollars ahead of Trump’s re-election in November, then surged roughly 83% — with volatility — to an all-time high above 126,000 dollars in early October.

Bitcoin crossed 100,000 dollars for the first time in early December 2024 as investors bet that the Trump administration would adopt crypto-friendly regulations.

Trump embraced the crypto sector, eased regulatory scrutiny, and pushed for supportive legislation. Congress passed and Trump signed the “GENIUS Act” in July, marking a new regulatory era for stablecoins.

Trump also appointed crypto-ally Paul Atkins to lead the SEC, while crypto increasingly entered the mainstream with new exchange-traded products offering easier market access.

Bitcoin was trading near 94,000 dollars at the start of the year. It has now erased nearly all of the past 11 months of gains. By comparison, the S&P 500 is up 13.4% this year, and gold prices have surged 53%.

While tech stocks have also come under pressure, investors have been buying dips. Nvidia dropped 3.36% on Friday before closing up 1.77%. On Monday, it fell 3.08% before trimming losses to end down just 1.88%.

Bitcoin, meanwhile, remains stuck around 92,000 dollars with little sign of recovery. Some analysts say the crypto market is at a turning point—positive catalysts have already been fully priced in this year, while uncertainty about the outlook is rising.

“Market behavior over the next few days will determine whether this is a deeper reset or just a sharp, temporary pullback within a still-intact cycle,” said Rafik of OKX.

Some crypto investors remain optimistic. Bitcoin fell to about 74,500 dollars in April before rallying above 126,000 dollars in early October.

Ryan Rasmussen, Head of Research at Bitwise Asset Management, said: “Right now, some investors are spooked by the sideways action. But in our view, it’s a perfect opportunity to accumulate Bitcoin or for those on the sidelines to enter the market.”

Key drivers of the decline:

Tech-sector collapse

Bitcoin has been caught in a broader sell-off in high-risk assets, especially tech stocks, which have suffered sharp declines amid concerns about stretched valuations.

Spot Bitcoin ETFs saw outflows of 866.7 million dollars on Thursday, according to CoinGlass — the largest since early August.

“In some ways, Bitcoin acted as an early risk indicator,” wrote David Nicholas, CEO of XFUNDS, noting recent equity-market valuation concerns. “I think it’s the perfect mix for Bitcoin weakness.”

Antonio G. Giacomo, Senior Market Analyst at XS.com, said in a client note: “The broad decline in tech stocks was a major driver behind the drop in risk appetite.”

Liquidity

Bitcoin liquidity has deteriorated over the past month, which may have contributed to increased price volatility.

Market depth — a measure of how well prices can absorb large trades — fell from around 766 million dollars in early October to 535.2 million dollars this week, according to analytics firm Kaiko.

Rumors around Michael Saylor

Selling intensified Friday after Michael Saylor, founder of Strategy and one of Bitcoin’s most prominent advocates, responded to online rumors alleging that his company had sold part of its Bitcoin holdings.

Arkham Intel estimated that Strategy held about 437,000 Bitcoin on Friday, down from a peak of around 484,000 earlier this month. The company previously said it believes it has identified about 97% of Strategy’s total holdings.

Strategy’s website said it held 641,692 Bitcoin as of Friday. The company did not respond to a Business Insider request for comment.

Strategy is the world’s largest corporate Bitcoin holder, and any sale would be a negative signal for the market, given Saylor’s well-known bullish stance and insistence that the company is a buyer, not a seller.

Another red flag spotted by Bitcoin watchers on social media was the drop in Strategy’s net-asset-value premium, which compares the market value of the company with the value of its Bitcoin holdings. The premium fell below 1x this week, meaning the market assigned no valuation above the worth of its holdings. Strategy’s market cap was about 59 billion dollars Friday, versus 63 billion dollars in Bitcoin.

A separate report from Arkham this week confirmed that Strategy remains the largest publicly traded Bitcoin holder.

But Saylor posted on X that he is actually “₿uying” more Bitcoin, sharing an image of himself with the word “HODL.”

He reiterated this in an interview with CNBC on Friday, saying Strategy is accelerating its purchases and will release its next Bitcoin-buying report on Monday.

Commenting on the recent sell-off, Saylor said: “I think volatility comes with the nature of the sector.”

Bitcoin fell below 90,000 dollars on Tuesday for the first time in nearly seven months before recovering slightly, as uncertainty over the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate path and caution tied to delayed U.S. economic data reduced demand for high-risk assets.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency was down 2.6% at 92,482 dollars as of 09:40 a.m. Eastern Time (14:40 GMT).

Bitcoin dropped to a 24-hour low of 89,409 dollars, leaving it nearly 30% below its late-October peak above 126,000 dollars.

The decline accelerated after the digital asset failed to hold support around 94,000 dollars, triggering what is known as a “death cross” between short- and long-term moving averages.

The U.S. government reopened last week after the longest shutdown in its history, and analysts say the next round of macro data will be crucial in shaping investor sentiment.

Iliya Katchaev, analyst at Nexo Dispatch, told Investing.com: “If inflation and labor data show further cooling, we may see a short-term rebound; but if not, markets are likely to stay in tight ranges dominated by flows into the weekend.”

Rate-cut doubts spark a wave of risk aversion

Investors have become increasingly doubtful that the Federal Reserve will cut rates in December. Fed officials — including Chair Jerome Powell — have signaled hesitation toward further easing, leaving markets uncertain about the central bank’s next move.

Caution also prevailed due to the lack of fresh data after weeks of delays caused by the recent government shutdown.

This backlog is expected to begin clearing this week, starting with the delayed September nonfarm payrolls report due Thursday.

Additional pressure: slower Bitcoin ETF flows and liquidation waves

Weak inflows into spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds contributed to the sell-off, as institutional investors stepped back amid rising volatility.

Shares of crypto-linked firms and mining companies also fell sharply, intensifying risk aversion across the digital-asset sector.

The decline followed several massive liquidation waves in crypto derivatives markets, where leveraged positions worth billions were wiped out.

Major analytics firms reported that earlier this month, more than 19 billion dollars in positions were liquidated within just 24 hours, triggering forced selling.

Bitcoin last traded below 90,000 dollars in late April. Its return to these levels highlights how quickly investor confidence has deteriorated as markets reassess geopolitical risks and the timing of U.S. rate cuts.

Crypto platforms disrupted after major Cloudflare outage

Cloudflare suffered a major network outage on Tuesday that knocked out front-end services for a broad range of cryptocurrency platforms and major websites. Millions of applications rely on the company’s infrastructure for security, routing, and edge computing.

Among the affected platforms were Coinbase and Kraken, in addition to major non-crypto services such as ChatGPT, Spotify, and X.

Cloudflare acknowledged the issue around 11:48 a.m. UTC on its status page, describing it as “an internal service degradation.” The company later said it had identified the cause and was deploying a fix.

The outage coincided with scheduled maintenance at several of the company’s data centers, though Cloudflare did not confirm any link and provided no further details.

Crypto prices today: broad altcoin declines

Most altcoins posted sharp losses on Friday amid broader risk-off sentiment.

Ethereum — the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency — fell 2.5% to 3,074.07 dollars.

Ripple, the third-largest token, declined 4.4% to 2.18 dollars.