Bitcoin Drops to $65K in Weekend Sell-Off, SOL XRP DOGE -6%

Bitcoin tumbled to $65,735 during early Asian trading on Saturday, February 28, surrendering more than half of the gains from a mid-week rally that nearly touched $70,000. The weekend sell-off hit altcoins even harder, with Solana plunging 6.7%, Ether declining 6.2%, Dogecoin shedding 5.1%, and XRP falling 4%. Hotter-than-expected U.S. producer price data, equity market weakness, and deteriorating risk appetite drove the broad retreat across cryptocurrency markets.

Why Did Bitcoin Drop to $65,000 This Weekend?

A confluence of negative macro signals during Friday's U.S. session triggered the sell-off. The S&P 500 closed down 0.4%, the Nasdaq 100 fell 0.3%, and the Dow Jones lost 1.1%. Nvidia, still digesting its post-earnings reaction, shed another 4.2%. A hotter-than-expected 0.5% jump in the producer price index stoked concerns that inflationary pressure may keep the Federal Reserve from cutting interest rates anytime soon.

Block Inc.'s massive layoffs further fueled anxiety that artificial intelligence is beginning to displace jobs across the economy rather than creating them. Crypto followed equities lower with amplified magnitude — a 0.4% decline in the S&P 500 translated into a 3% drop in Bitcoin and losses exceeding 6% for several altcoins.

Leveraged positions rebuilt during Wednesday's rally were rapidly flushed on the reversal. Bitcoin's attempt to reclaim $70,000 earlier in the week lasted roughly 48 hours before the risk-off environment overwhelmed bullish momentum.

ETF Inflows Hit $1.1 Billion but Fail to Stem the Tide

Institutional demand for Bitcoin remained strong despite the price drop. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted $1.1 billion in net inflows across three trading sessions this week, putting them on pace for their best weekly performance in months, according to market data. Yet buying pressure from ETFs proved insufficient to overcome the macro headwinds.

BNB was the relative outperformer among major tokens, declining just 2.5% compared to other large-cap altcoins. The downturn erased the week's most encouraging signal — altcoin outperformance — pushing most major tokens into negative territory on a weekly basis.

Over-analysis of short-term price movements is misguided. Bitcoin's volatility is no surprise, particularly for early investors who have experienced previous cycles. What's different this time is the type of capital behind the emerging asset class.

— Dom Harz, Co-Founder of BOB

Stablecoin Reserves Flash Warning Signal

On-chain data raises another concern. CryptoQuant data shows USDT stablecoin reserves on exchanges have fallen from $60 billion to $51.1 billion over the past two months. The analytics firm warned that a breach below $50 billion could trigger a massive sell-off, as shrinking stablecoin liquidity on exchanges typically signals reduced buying power.

Elsewhere, Strategy shares topped the list of large U.S. companies by short interest volume, as markets increasingly question the sustainability of the firm's debt-funded Bitcoin buying program. On the Ethereum front, large holders have begun selling at a loss — with DAT company ETHZilla officially abandoning its ETH accumulation strategy and rebranding to focus on tokenized real-world assets.

What Does This Mean for Crypto Going Into March?

Bitcoin now sits in the middle of the $60,000-$70,000 range it has occupied since the February 5 crash. Wednesday's price action confirmed that the top of this range acts as firm resistance. The key question heading into March is whether the bottom still holds as support.

Credit stress concerns, a hot PPI inflation reading, and geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and Iran give investors ample reason to avoid risk assets. The near-term outlook for Bitcoin and altcoins remains fragile. Institutional flows through spot ETFs provide a floor, but the weekend sell-off showed that macro headwinds can still overwhelm even strong demand from traditional finance.