Bitcoin Trades Sideways Near $84,000 as Rising Yields and Bitget Hack Weigh on Sentiment

Bitcoin's price held steady on Friday, capping a week of gains as the market grappled with conflicting signals from rising government bond yields and the aftermath of a significant hack at cryptocurrency exchange Bitget. The world's largest cryptocurrency traded at $84,081.6, down a marginal 0.1% in morning trading, but remained up 3.5% for the week, according to data from Investing.com.

Bitget Halts Withdrawals After $352 Million Hack

The crypto market is closely monitoring developments at the Bitget exchange, which suspended user withdrawals after suffering a major security breach. The company reported that approximately $351.6 million in crypto assets were stolen in what is now the largest crypto-related theft of 2026.

In a statement on the social media platform X, Bitget CEO Gracy Chen said the exchange detected "unauthorized transfers" from multiple wallets on Thursday. She assured users that all customer funds are safe and that the losses would be fully covered by Bitget's own capital. The attack, which affected both hot and cold wallets, included assets such as Ethereum, XRP, USDT, and USDC. While an investigation is ongoing, initial findings suggest a possible link to North Korean hacking groups.

Rising Treasury Yields Cap Crypto Gains

Bitcoin's strong start to the week was curtailed as a sharp rise in government bond yields dampened investor appetite for risk assets. The yield on the benchmark U.S. 10-year Treasury note surged to its highest level since 2007, reflecting growing concerns about persistently high interest rates and tightening liquidity.

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This move in the bond market was fueled by hawkish commentary from several Federal Reserve officials, who indicated that ongoing inflation could necessitate further interest rate increases following last week's 25-basis-point hike. Higher interest rates typically create headwinds for non-yielding, speculative assets like cryptocurrencies by increasing the opportunity cost of holding them.

Altcoins See Modest Gains

Despite the pressure on Bitcoin, the broader altcoin market posted slight gains on Friday, preserving strong weekly performance. Key takeaways include:

• Ethereum (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency, rose 1.1% to $2,699.36.
• XRP saw a significant jump of approximately 6%.
• Other major tokens including Solana (SOL) and Cardano (ADA) were up 4% and 5.8%, respectively, while BNB traded flat.