The
cryptocurrency market is experiencing one of its strongest sell-offs in months
today (Monday), testing levels not seen since the beginning of 2024. Bitcoin
(BTC) has shed 25% of its total value in just 4 days, shrinking by $320
billion. The rest of the cryptocurrency market lost practically the same amount.
Bitcoin and
Cryptocurrencies Face Strongest Sell-Off in a Year
Bitcoin’s
price is falling by nearly 14% during Monday’s session, testing levels below
the psychological support of $50,000. This is BTC’s lowest price point since
February and marks the fourth day of very strong selling pressure.
In total,
the price has contracted by 25%, or about $16,000. In dollar terms, $320
billion has evaporated from the Bitcoin market since last Friday, erasing the
value stubbornly built by crypto bulls at the beginning of the year.
BREAKING: #Bitcoin falls below $50,000 pic.twitter.com/11og9GoSyi
— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) August 5, 2024
The BTC
sell-off wave has caused altcoins to lose massively as well, with the total
scale of the sell-off now reaching $600 billion. This is the strongest bleeding
of digital assets in over a year.
According to experts
and analysts, the main reason for the sudden change in sentiment on
Bitcoin, Ethereum, and major altcoins is the deteriorating condition of the
stock market, with which digital assets are strongly correlated.
A recent 10x Research report suggests #Bitcoin’s price might drop below $50,000 due to #US economic uncertainties, impacting the broader #crypto market. The #ISM Manufacturing Index downturn signals potential sharp corrections for Bitcoin and a 20% decline in the S&P 500. The… pic.twitter.com/xWk8e04mPG
— TOBTC (@_TOBTC) August 5, 2024
For
example, the S&P 500 index lost nearly 2% last Friday and fell to two-month
lows at 5,346 points. The tech-heavy Nasdaq slid even more sharply, testing
levels last observed in May.
“The wider digital token space is following steep losses in global stock markets
amid fears of a slowdown in the US economy that is spurring speculation of an
emergency rate cut by the Federal Reserve,” commented Arthur Firstov, Chief Business Officer at Mercuryo, the payment infrastructure providder for crypto. “Panic has swept
across cryptocurrency markets as participants witness waves of selling pressure.”
The strong
depreciation of the US stock market was triggered not only by local economic
data and concerns about the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) future monetary policy but
also by a crash in global stock markets. Global concerns were sparked by the
Japanese market, where the Nikkei index lost 20% over three days. Monday’s
declines exceeded 10%, pushing the Tokyo stock exchange benchmark to its lowest
levels since November 2023.
$1 Billion in Leveraged
Longs Vanishes from the Market
The scale
of losses in the cryptocurrency market and the money actually lost by investors
is also shown by data on the value of liquidations of long leveraged positions.
CoinGlass data shows that liquidations of
long positions over the past 24 hours reached nearly $1 billion. $406 million
in longs disappeared from Bitcoin derivatives, and another $370 million from
long positions on Ethereum.
Regarding #Bitcoin, this thing is a beauty. Its a ghost town in longs, because of nuclear liquidation event. Shorts are piling up and eventualy they will have the same faith. #cryptocrash #crypto #bitcoin pic.twitter.com/JUm8rKZU3V
— Kackbyll (@Kackbyll1) August 5, 2024
Companies
associated with digital assets, including publicly traded Bitcoin miners on
Wall Street, are also losing on the dynamic slide of cryptocurrencies. Shares
of Marathon Digital Holdings, the largest BTC producer on Nasdaq, fell by over
5% on Friday and tested levels from May. The depreciation exceeded 20% in just one week. Previously, the company’s shares were
hurt by news of a $138 million fine imposed on it.
This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.
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