Bitcoin fell 15% in the last 24 hours, plunging below $40,000 for the first time since middle of March. Meanwhile, Ethereum was down 14%, retreating below the $3,000 level for the first time since March 22.
BTC was trading at $39,783 at the time of writing, while Ether (ETH) fell to $2,978.54, according to Coingecko data.
Investors are weighing the prospects of rising interest rates, skyrocketing inflation, and global commerce being disrupted as a result of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, among other factors.
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Bitcoin Retreats To Monthly Low
Faced with the threat of further rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve, Bitcoin, along with stocks, is sliding to a monthly low. Hundreds of millions of dollars worth of liquidations have occurred as a result.
Market experts believe that the central bank’s balance sheet reductions are exerting downward pressure on stocks and risk assets, with Bitcoin potentially losing allure.
Decentrader co-founder filbfilb concurred with these severe headwinds, stating that the Fed’s action will have an effect on the BTC price trend “for months to come.”
Lesser Exposure To Speculative Assets
Investors appear to be decreasing their exposure to speculative assets, such as stocks and cryptocurrencies, in response to fears about inflation and slowing economic development.
Additionally, the 10-year Treasury yield increased to a fresh three-year high of 2.77% on Tuesday, lowering the present value of high-priced technology equities.
Bitcoin, which has generally been reasonably connected with the pricing of other cryptocurrencies, has recently become more correlated with stock prices.
BTC total market cap at $765.42 billion on the weekend chart | Source: TradingView.com
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Last month, the cryptocurrency asset’s price correlation with the S&P 500 reached 0.50, with -1 indicating that they move in complete opposition to one another and 1 indicating that they move in perfect sync.
According to Arcane Research data, it was the highest rate since October 2020.
Nydig, a Bitcoin-focused asset manager, noted in a note to investors:
“Bitcoin investors continue to be concerned about rising interest rates and the prospect of tighter monetary conditions.”
Looming Crypto Meltdown
On Sunday, BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes warned of a “coming crypto carnage” and projected that both Bitcoin and Ether would continue to plummet far further.
The billionaire investment banker-turned-crypto mogul predicted that Bitcoin and Ether will “bottom well before the Fed moves” and reverses course on its tightening policies.
Hayes anticipated that the two leading cryptocurrencies would touch the $30,000 and $2,500 levels by the end of June.
Within 24 hours, Coinglass reports that roughly $440 million has been liquidated across the broader crypto market. This totals over 140,000 trades, one of which resulted in a $10 million loss on a single trade.
Featured image from Medium, chart from TradingView.com
