Bitcoin stumbled as traders braced for an upcoming decision by the US Securities and Exchange Commission on whether to approve an exchange-traded fund tied directly to the world’s largest cryptocurrency.
The token fell as much as 4.3% to $42,563 in New York on Friday, before paring the decline. Bitcoin had risen as high as $45,911 earlier this week, but crashed more than 9% on Wednesday as leverage built up in the market and investors grew nervous about the SEC’s impending decision. Other cryptoassets generally fared worst, with Ether, Solana’s SOL and Ripple’s XRP all down between 2% and 7%.