Bitcoin Drops as Broad Sell-Off Across Financial Markets Kicks Off

The world's biggest cryptocurrency was down as much as 19% over the weekend, though it pared that loss to about 7% shortly after noon on Monday.

Bitcoin price fell sharply on Monday evening, tracking a broader sell-off across financial markets that began late last week.

The world's largest cryptocurrency dropped as much as 7% over the weekend, although it pared some of those losses to trade down about 2% on Monday evening. It was last trading at $53,434 at 6:38 p.m. ET.

Ethereum, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency, also fell, trading 6% lower at $2,392.

The sell-off in crypto comes as risk assets plunged in a global market rout sparked by concerns over the health of the U.S. economy.

Disappointing jobs and manufacturing data last week raised concerns that the Federal Reserve waited too long to cut interest rates. Some market observers have said the historic market sell-off could prompt an emergency rate cut from the central bank next week. Such a move would be a rare acknowledgment by the Fed of the dire conditions facing the economy. Historically, an emergency cut has been reserved for "black swan" events like the pandemic and the terror attacks of September 11.

The bout of stock market volatility is the strongest since the onset of COVID-19 in 2020. Japan's Nikkei 225 index dropped 12% early Monday in its worst single-day decline since 1987, and markets in South Korea and Europe also plunged.

With weaker job growth than expected, "financial markets indicate that the risk is no longer balanced between growth and inflation," analysts from Bank of America said in a Sunday note.

The analysts aren't optimistic that new data in the coming weeks could sway markets.

"Recent data suggests growth is slowing faster than expected and there are no major data releases or earnings over the coming weeks that could reverse the narrative," they said.

The upcoming release of consumer price index data on August 14 could "be a major downside catalyst if it comes in hot," they added.

Some crypto experts remain optimistic that the sell-off is a stopover before further gains materialize.

"Judging from historical trends in the crypto market, before the market forms a true bullish drive, it needs to experience a sharp decline to reduce the long positions of the contract in order to reduce the selling pressure for future rises," Gracy Chen, CEO of crypto exchange company Bitget, said in a Monday note.

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