Bitcoin drops 0.5% to $68,056.0

Bitcoin had come close to dropping below $60,000 last week, as the world’s largest crypto headlined a broader, months-long sell-down in the sector

Bitcoin steadied on Tuesday, with cryptocurrency markets moving little as holidays in several markets made for few direct trading cues.

Caution ahead of several U.S. economic readings also spurred caution, as did anticipation of upcoming talks between the U.S. and Iran.

Bitcoin dropped 0.5% to $68,056.0 by 05:39 GMT.

Bitcoin had come close to dropping below $60,000 last week, as the world’s largest crypto headlined a broader, months-long sell-down in the sector.

The crypto has now wiped out around 50% of its value since hitting a record high in October, amid a storm of headwinds for the sector.

Recent losses in Bitcoin came as markets fretted over the outlook for U.S. monetary policy under Kevin Warsh, President Donald Trump’s nominee for the Chairman of the central bank.

Warsh was viewed as a less dovish pick, spurring concerns that U.S. monetary conditions will not be as loose as initially expected– a scenario that bodes poorly for speculative assets such as crypto.

On the U.S. economic front, industrial production, trade data, and PCE price index data are due in the coming days.

The minutes of the bank’s January meeting are also on tap this week.

Broader risk aversion also saw traders largely prefer physical assets such as gold and precious metals over crypto, while volatility in U.S. technology stocks– which crypto tends to track– also spilled over into the sector.

Bitcoin took little support from top corporate holder Strategy Inc stating that it was well-positioned to survive a price crash until $8,000 a coin.

But the company was also nursing a deep loss in the fourth quarter, while a recent selldown in Bitcoin also sparked concerns over the company’s debt– some of which is tied to the value of its Bitcoin holdings.

Strategy was not the only Bitcoin treasury to record a large loss in recent weeks. Japanese hotelier turned treasury Metaplanet Inc recorded a valuation loss of around 102.2 billion yen on its holdings.

Broader crypto prices rose slightly on Tuesday, recovering a small measure of recent losses, but were still nursing sharp declines in recent weeks.