bitcoin dropped to $73,300 on Thursday after briefly topping $74,500, with traders spooked by talk of a possible Federal Reserve interest rate hike in December.
The dip shows just how much crypto prices can swing when big economic news hits.
Over the past day, bitcoin and ethereum both saw small declines.
Altcoins slip as $74,000 puts loom
Altcoins like BNB, XRP, Solana, and Cardano also slipped (some nearly 2%).
With Friday's big Deribit options expiration looming (especially those $74,000 put contracts), traders are playing it safe.
Prateek Gupta, Head of Business, Mudrex, pointed out there's now an 87% chance of a quarter-point hike in December thanks to stubborn inflation.
Meanwhile, Nischal Shetty, Founder, WazirX, says efforts are underway to steady the market, but ETF withdrawals and inflation aren't making it easy.
What happens next could depend a lot on upcoming Fed comments and how much big investors stay involved.