Bitcoin fell to $78,000 on net outflows of institutional funds.

According to CoinMarketCap, a virtual asset market tracker, at 9:30 a.m. on the 17th, bitcoin was trading at $78,143, down 1.27% from the previous day. The leading altcoin (virtual assets excluding bitcoin) ether slipped 2.05% to $2,182.

Prices of virtual assets including Bitcoin appear on the electronic board at the Bithumb customer center in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. /Courtesy of News1

The virtual asset market's weakness that day is seen as stemming from institutional money leaving. According to SoSoValue, a virtual asset data platform, U.S. spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETF; Exchange Traded Fund) saw net outflows of $290 million on the 15th. They shifted to net outflows after six straight weeks of net inflows.

Concerns over surging U.S. inflation have dimmed expectations for interest rate cuts by the U.S. Central Bank, the Federal Reserve System (Fed), and rising tensions between the United States and Iran around the Strait of Hormuz have strengthened risk-off sentiment.

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