Bitcoin fell near a four-month low on Friday and was headed for a deep weekly decline as extended institutional selling, amid persistent concerns over the Iran war, saw traders steer clear of cryptocurrencies.

The world’s largest crypto extended losses after top corporate Bitcoin holder Strategy disclosed it had sold some of its holdings earlier this week. A broader shift towards artificial intelligence stocks also spurred losses in crypto markets. 

Bitcoin fell 3.9% to $61,524.0 by 02:26 ET (06:26 GMT). 

Bitcoin set for deep weekly loss amid heavy ETF outflows 

Bitcoin was set to lose over 16% this week amid pressure from continued institutional selling, which was directed mainly at spot exchange-traded funds.

Bitcoin ETFs were nursing an outflow of $1.4 billion this week– their fourth consecutive week of over $1 billion outflows, data from SoSoValue showed. 

Institutional selling came amid heightened broader risk-aversion spurred chiefly by uncertainty over the U.S.-Iran war. Military action between the two restarted over the past week, while reports showed Iran halting indirect negotiations with the United States.

Institutional selling was also in part driven by investors increasingly favoring AI stocks over non-yielding crypto assets. Anticipation of bumper initial public offerings, from SpaceX and from AI majors OpenAI and Anthropic, also drummed up sentiment towards the sector. 

Beyond institutional selling, retail investors also appeared to be largely averse towards Bitcoin. Coinglass’ Bitcoin Coinbase premium index– which measures Bitcoin’s spot price in the biggest U.S. exchange in comparison to the global average– showed the crypto trading at a deep discount. 

Crypto price today: altcoins retreat, also set for weekly wipeout

Broader crypto prices tumbled on Friday, tracking declines in Bitcoin amid few positive signals for the sector. 

Declines in risk-driven markets also kept investors largely averse towards the sector, with market focus turning to upcoming nonfarm payrolls data for more cues on the U.S. economy. 

World no.2 crypto Ether slid 7.6% to $1,654.57, and was down nearly 18% this week. Ether also hit a 14-month low. 

XRP fell 6% to $1.1169, and was down nearly 17% this week. 

Solana fell 7.4%, while Cardano slumped over 18% on Friday and hit an over five-year low. BNB fell 4.4%. 

Among memecoins, Dogecoin fell 7%, while $TRUMP slid 10%.