As of Friday morning, Bitcoin prices have dropped to their lowest in months. This comes after the public was made aware of comments from the US Federal Reserve regarding the possibility of raising interest rates.

According to BBC News, the crypto-currency declined in value from $47,000 earlier this week to less than $42,000 per digital coin.

The recent swings in cryptocurrencies are happening during a volatile period for financial markets.

Spiking inflation has resulted in central banks tightening monetary policy, threatening to reduce the liquidity tailwind that lifted a wide range of assets.

Due to crypto-currency's global and decentralized nature, pinpointing a rise or decline in the price of Bitcoin to one event is difficult.

On that note, experts say the political unrest in Kazakhstan also caused the drop in value. 

Many are pointing to the release of the Federal Reserve's December meeting notes.

The minutes suggest the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates sooner than some had anticipated, and sell off some of its assets.

That could affect traditional investors who hold Bitcoin, as they seek less risky assets.

At the same time, a significant amount of the world's Bitcoin mining takes place in Kazakhstan.

Due to the country's violent demonstrations regarding rising fuel prices, the country has been hit with internet shutdowns and its Bitcoin mining has been interrupted. 

BBC News says the events of this week took place as follows:

-Bitcoin started the week at a price above $47,000 per coin

-That began to slip by mid-week to around $46,000

-On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve minutes were released

-By Thursday, the price fell sharply to around $42,000

-It hit a low of nearly $41,000 at one point on Thursday before recovering slightly

The dip indicates Bitcoin has reached its lowest price since September 2020, down from a November peak of more than $60,000.

Other crypto-currencies have experienced similar price declines; Ethereum's value dropped by more than 4% in 24 hours, from approximately $3,800 to under $3,200.