Tech
Bitcoin and Crypto Markets Crash as Global Stocks Falter
Bitcoin (BTC) fell sharply by 3% in early Asian trading, reflecting a broader downturn in equity markets and a reduced appetite for higher-risk assets.
This follows Bitcoin exceeding $68,000 despite being driven by continued inflows into spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). SoSoValue reported at the time:
The market has seen record net inflows of more than $17 billion, demonstrating growing institutional interest and confidence in Bitcoin as an asset class.
CoinMarketCap data shows that the price of the leading cryptocurrency plummeted from $65,500 to around $64,000 within moments of the Tokyo market opening. According to Coinglass data This sharp decline triggered the liquidation of more than $267 million in long positions in the last 24 hours, marking the most significant drop since early July.
Liquidations, which occur when exchanges forcefully close out over-leveraged trades due to margin exhaustion, can signal a market cleansing of excessive leverage. This often precedes a period of reduced price volatility.
Ethereum (ETH) Traders suffered the heaviest losses, with $100 million in long positions liquidated, as the token fell 7.5% in value, partly due to outflows from the recently launched ETH ETF.
The best in the world cryptocurrency exchange Binance unsurprisingly led exchanges in liquidations to $118 million, predominantly affecting long positions. Asian favorites OKX and Huobi saw up to 94% of their long trades liquidated.
Not just cryptocurrencies
This cryptocurrency market turbulence has coincided with a significant drop in U.S. tech stocks. The Nasdaq 100 index fell 660 points on Wednesday, its steepest decline since 2022.
Disappointing quarterly reports from tech giants Alphabet and Tesla contributed to the slide, with their shares falling as much as 12%. Overall, the “Magnificent Seven” tech stocks lost more than $750 billion in market value, a record single-day decline for the group.
Bearish sentiment spread across Asian markets, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 falling more than 3% on Thursday morning, amid speculation potential interest rate hikes by the Bank of Japan.