Bitcoin drops to $65,000 in a weekend rout, as Solana, XRP and Dogecoin tumble 6%.

Bitcoin’s latest run toward $70,000 proved short-lived, with the rally unraveling as hotter inflation data and renewed weakness in equities weighed on risk appetite heading into the weekend.

Bitcoin fell to $65,735 during early Asian trading on Saturday, down 3% over the past 24 hours and 2.8% for the week. The midweek surge that briefly brought prices within reach of $70,000 has now surrendered more than half its gains as sentiment deteriorated through Thursday and Friday’s U.S. sessions.

Altcoins fared worse. Solana tumbled 6.7%, Ethereum declined 6.2%, Dogecoin lost 5.1%, and XRP slid 4%. The retreat erased much of the week’s earlier altcoin outperformance, pushing most major tokens into negative territory on a weekly basis. BNB was comparatively resilient, down about 2.5%.

The broader market backdrop turned sour on Friday. The S&P 500 closed 0.4% lower, the Nasdaq-100 slipped 0.3%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.1%. Shares of Nvidia declined another 4.2% as investors continued to digest its post-earnings performance.

Inflation concerns added to the pressure. Producer prices rose 0.5% in the latest reading, hotter than expected, reinforcing the view that the Federal Reserve may delay interest-rate cuts. Meanwhile, significant layoffs at Block, Inc. heightened anxiety that artificial intelligence could be displacing workers more rapidly than anticipated.

As is often the case, crypto’s moves outpaced those in equities. A modest 0.4% decline in the S&P translated into a 3% drop in bitcoin and steeper losses across altcoins. Leverage that built up during Wednesday’s advance was quickly unwound during the sell-off.

Notably, institutional flows had shown strength earlier in the week. U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs attracted $1.1 billion over three days, putting them on track for one of their strongest weeks in months. Still, those inflows were insufficient to counterbalance mounting macroeconomic headwinds.

“Over-analysis of short-term price movements is misguided,” said Dom Harz, co-founder of bitcoin finance firm BOB. “Volatility is part of bitcoin’s DNA, especially for long-term participants. What’s different today is the nature of the capital entering the space.”

On-chain data also raised caution flags. According to CryptoQuant, reserves of Tether on exchanges have fallen from $60 billion to $51.1 billion over the past two months. The firm warned that a drop below $50 billion could increase the risk of a sharper market sell-off.

Elsewhere, shares of Strategy ranked among the most shorted large U.S. stocks, reflecting skepticism about the sustainability of its debt-funded bitcoin accumulation strategy.

In the Ethereum ecosystem, selling pressure also emerged. Major holders have begun trimming positions at a loss, while digital asset company ETHZilla announced it would halt its ether accumulation strategy and pivot toward tokenized real-world assets.

For now, bitcoin remains confined within the $60,000–$70,000 range that has defined price action since the Feb. 5 crash. This week reaffirmed resistance near the top of that band. The key question heading into March is whether support near the lower boundary can continue to hold.