Bitcoin has fallen below $67,000 for the first time since April
The price of Bitcoin plummeted on Tuesday, losing about 7% of its value. Amid the sell-off, the cryptocurrency fell below the $67,000 mark for the first time since April.
The crypto market experienced one of its sharpest daily drops since February: in 24 hours, forced liquidations reached nearly $1.5 billion. For Bitcoin alone, over $800 million in open contracts were liquidated. Liquidation occurs automatically—exchanges forcibly close losing trades when the market moves against the trader.
Since its October record of $126,000, Bitcoin has lost nearly half its value.
Three factors are simultaneously putting pressure on the price.
- Sales from Strategy. Michael Saylor’s company, which has been buying up Bitcoin for years and has become one of its largest holders, sold a portion of its reserves on Monday—amounting to about $2.5 million—for the first time since late 2022. Relative to its total portfolio of $59 billion, this is a symbolic amount, but the market perceived it as a warning sign. Strategy’s own shares plummeted by 10%—the largest one-day drop since February.
- Outflows from ETFs. U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs have recorded net outflows for 11 consecutive days—a record streak. During this time, investors have withdrawn nearly $3.5 billion.
- Geopolitics. Due to tensions surrounding the Iran conflict, investors are fleeing risky assets en masse. According to James Butterfill of CoinShares, the positive impact of progress in U.S. crypto regulation has been overshadowed by risk aversion stemming from Iran.
“It seems the market reacted to the news of Strategy selling 32 BTC. But even without that headline, market confidence was already waning,” explains Wintermute OTC trader Jasper De Maer.
FalconX analyst Sean McNulty warns: if Bitcoin closes the day or week below $70,000, it is no longer a reaction to the news but a signal of a trend reversal.
This is discussed in a Bloomberg article.
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