Bitcoin Closes Week Sliding After Attempted Rally

By Kirk MaltaisBitcoin turned lower in late morning trade, retesting the $80,000 threshold heading into the weekend.The flagship cryptocurrency is down 1.3% to $80,970 Friday afternoon, according to pricing data from LSEG. The cryptocurrency had rallied along with the stock markets in morning trade, but succumbed to continued weakness seen in tech and AI stocks, following the 2.4% slide seen on the Nasdaq.Bond yields turned higher in the afternoon, this after the Treasury Department passed on an opportunity to send a strong signal that it is considering reducing the sizes of bond auctions. Higher yields have been a pressure point for cryptocurrencies and general commodities, with investors cautious about engaging with what they perceive as "riskier" assets.Crypto assets were supported in morning trade by dimming expectations for a near-term Federal Reserve rate hike. Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh avoided a clearly hawkish or dovish tone during a moderated conversation at the International Monetary Fund meetings in Bangkok.But for bitcoin, lacking demand for tokens on the spot market is a fundamental problem that hasn't gone away."The demand picture has not improved," said Colin Basco, a senior quantitative analyst with Coinbase Institutional. Basco attributes the upward movement seen in bitcoin earlier in the week to trading by leveraged long positions, as opposed to spot demand among investors.Net flows in and out of bitcoin ETFs, considered a metric of interest in the cryptocurrency among fund managers, have slid back into being more negative than positive for the week. Through Thursday, bitcoin ETFs recorded a net outflow of $146 million, according to data from Coinglass.At the same time, analysts say that bitcoin's relative strength versus AI stocks this week is reason for optimism. Bitcoin shed roughly 3% this week, while the iShares Semiconductor ETF slipped 9%.Write to Kirk Maltais at [email protected]