Bitcoin drops below $20,000 for the first time since Nov. 2020

The price of Bitcoin dropped below $20,000 on Saturday for the first time since Nov. 2020 and dropped below $18,000 before recovering Sunday morning to around $19,500.

Bitcoin has lost more than 70 percent of its value since it peaked in Nov. 2021 at nearly $69,000, the Financial Times reported. These losses are tied to a larger downward trend in the stock market, driven by inflation and the Federal Reserve's decision to raise interest rates.

Federal Reserve governor Christopher Waller said Saturday that he supports raising interest rates by another 0.75 percent at the Federal Reserve's July meeting. The Fed previously raised rates by 0.75 percent on Wednesday, bringing the federal funds rate up to between 1.5 and 1.75 percent.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

"The Fed is 'all in' on re-establishing price stability," Waller said at a conference in Dallas.

A report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released earlier this month showed that consumer prices jumped 8.6 percent between May 2021 and May 2022, the fastest rate of increase in four decades.