Bitcoin fell to a three-month low just above $US62,000 before edging back to near $US65,000 on Saturday, as the U.S. braced for a second day of heavy flight cancellations after a rare nationwide ground stop.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency dropped another 8 per cent since U.S. markets closed on Friday, reaching its lowest level in three months before the partial rebound later on Saturday. Bitcoin has lost around 17 per cent over the past week, according to CoinDesk.
Losses spread across the broader market. Other major tokens also fell, with Ethereum down by around 22 per cent, and XRP and Solana declining as well.
U.S. analyst James Check said on X that markets are “watching the fourth capitulation event since the all-time high”. He said Bitcoin is now in a “deep value” zone, last seen in February and late June this year.
Air travel recovery still under way
The crypto slump comes as U.S. aviation works to clear backlogs from a nationwide ground stop on Friday that officials have blamed on faulty equipment. The disruption sparked delays and cancellations across the country and impacted flights from Australia.
FAA chief Bryan Bedford said 12,000 flights were cancelled yesterday and between 4,000 and 5,000 are likely to be cancelled today, following Friday’s four-hour grounding of flights.
“I do think the worst is behind us, but we still have a fair amount of recovery ahead of us,” Mr Bedford said. “So we will still have delays and cancellations today, but that will set us up for a full recovery tomorrow.”
Addressing the cause at a press conference earlier today, Mr Duffy said maintenance work to upgrade an old copper wire to a high-speed fibre cable caused issues with plane and radar feeds. “Either through contractor error or a faulty piece of equipment … it started flooding other routers in our air traffic control system,” he said.
It is not yet clear how long it will take for schedules to normalise, beyond the FAA’s guidance for a full recovery tomorrow. Officials have not provided further detail on the specific equipment at fault.
For travellers, airlines have been advising customers to check their flight status before heading to the airport. For crypto markets, traders are watching whether Bitcoin can hold near $US65,000 after the brief bounce from intraday lows.
What we know
Bitcoin’s price fell to just above $US62,000 before climbing near $US65,000 on Saturday. It is down about 17 per cent over the week, according to CoinDesk. Ethereum has dropped around 22 per cent, with XRP and Solana also weaker. The FAA says Friday’s ground stop lasted about four hours and was linked to faulty equipment during maintenance to replace an old copper wire with fibre, with thousands of flights cancelled yesterday and more expected today.
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