Bitcoin Price Slides. Why It’s Still Been a Good Week for Cryptos.

Bitcoin is trading about 7% off the record high it hit last month. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

Bitcoin price was sliding on Friday, although the selloff wasn’t big enough to sour what’s been a good week for cryptos.

The world’s largest token was down 0.6% to $116,526 over the past 24 hours, according to CoinDesk data. It’s now trading about 7% off the record high it hit in August.

Other digital assets were also sliding. Ethereum fell 1.2%, Solana slipped 1.8%, and XRP dropped 2.7% over the past 24 hours, according to data from the crypto exchange Kraken.

Created with Highcharts 9.0.1Sources: CoinDesk (Bitcoin); Kraken (Ethereum,​Solana, XRP)

Created with Highcharts 9.0.1BitcoinSolanaXRPEthereumSept. 15Sept. 19-5-4-3-2-1012345%

There was no obvious factor dragging prices lower. Investors were probably just taking the chance to lock in some profit after a solid recent run: Bitcoin climbed to its highest level in a month on Thursday, as part of a broader market rally driven by the Federal Reserve slashing interest rates.

The Fed’s first rate cut of 2025 should still make the outlook more bullish for cryptos, according to XS analyst Samer Hasn.

“The upward momentum has been reinforced by the Federal Reserve’s shift toward easier policy and by a futures market tilted to the long side,” he said on Friday.

“With the Fed delivering a 25-basis-point rate cut on Wednesday and indicating more reductions to come, risk appetite has extended into digital assets fueling the bull run.”

Cryptos tend to do well when interest rates fall because safe-haven investments like bonds and savings accounts tend to offer lower returns. This incentivizes investors to seek higher-yielding, riskier assets to generate better returns.

Write to George Glover at george.glover@dowjones.com