Bitcoin Falls Below $66,000, Altcoins Plummet: What’s Happening in the Crypto Market?
Major cryptocurrencies experienced a significant downturn during the Asian trading session on Tuesday. This decline is attributed to continuous profit-taking and net outflows from Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) listed in the U.S. on Monday, which have dampened bullish sentiments.
Bitcoin (BTC) has fallen below $66,000, erasing all gains from Monday, while Ethereum (ETH) has dropped to $3,400, reversing last week’s progress.
According to CoinGecko data, major altcoins like Dogecoin (DOGE) and Solana (SOL) have seen substantial declines, with drops of up to 9%, leading the global downturn. Ton Network’s TON has decreased by 5%, whereas BNB Chain’s BNB has performed relatively better, with a smaller decline of 1.5%.
The broader CoinDesk 20 (CD20) index, which tracks the liquidity of the largest cryptocurrencies excluding stablecoins, has fallen by 4.2%.
Last week, BTC fell below the $65,000 mark for the first time in a month, as ETF net outflows exceeded $500 million and the Federal Reserve indicated that it would only cut interest rates once in 2024.
Neil Roarty, an analyst at Stocklytics, commented, “Political uncertainty stemming from Emmanuel Macron’s unexpected decision to call a snap election in France has boosted the dollar, as traders moved out of the euro.”
A strong dollar typically exerts downward pressure on Bitcoin, necessitating significant interest rate cuts and a weaker dollar to push Bitcoin toward the $70,000 threshold.
Elsewhere, FxPro senior market analyst Alex Kuptsikevich warned of overall bearish market sentiment, despite the positive developments surrounding the Ethereum ETF, which have done little to boost Ethereum’s price.
Kuptsikevich noted that Ethereum briefly rose by over 6% last Friday after dipping below its 50-day moving average due to optimistic ETF expectations. However, since the market opened on Monday, Ethereum has declined by nearly 1.5%, raising caution about the short-term performance of altcoins.
“Liquidity increases during weekdays might intensify selling pressure, favoring a bear market over a bull market,” Kuptsikevich concluded in a Tuesday email.
