Markets
Bitcoin (BTC) Price Falls Below $64,000 as US Stock Selloff Stalls Cryptocurrency Rebound; SOL, LINK Down 2-4%
Cryptocurrencies sharply reversed their initial gains in Wednesday’s U.S. trading session with bitcoin (BTC) falling below $64,000 as a broad-based stock selloff weighed on the digital asset market.
The largest cryptocurrency by market cap lost 2% in an hour, falling to $63,890 after surpassing $66,000 in early trading. At press time, BTC was trading at $64,000, down 0.5% in the past 24 hours.
Altcoin Majors Like Solana (GROUND)cardan (ADA) and the Chainlink token (LINK) sold by 2-4% over the same period. The benchmark index of the cryptocurrency market CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20) has fallen by 1.2% over the past 24 hours, with most constituents in the red.
The action came as major U.S. stock indexes also fell, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq down 2.7% and the S&P 500 down 1.3%. Large-cap tech stocks such as chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA), which were the biggest contributors to both benchmarks’ rise to new all-time highs, have struggled in recent days as investors have shifted capital to smaller-cap stocks in anticipation of more accommodative interest rates later in the year. Nvidia was down 6.5% on Wednesday, but still up 145% year to date.
Joel Kruger, market strategist at LMAX Group, said the cryptocurrency rally could run out of steam if the stock market slide turns into a deeper correction, but over a longer period it could provide a safe haven for investors fleeing stocks.
“The only concern we have signaled in recent sessions is our concern about the state of the U.S. stock market and the possibility that we may soon see a major bearish reversal that would allow for a healthy correction,” Kruger said in a note Wednesday.
“But even then, there will be plenty of reasons to want to buy bitcoin as a flight-to-safety asset, and plenty of reasons to want to acquire other cryptoassets if their potential for massive innovation declines,” he added.