Bitcoin (BTC) has experienced a significant price drop, reaching a one-week low, as traders turn their attention to the influence of Bitcoin whales and developments related to Nvidia, a leading technology company. This occurrence has garnered attention within the crypto community and financial markets alike due to its potential implications for market dynamics and investor sentiment.
Bitcoin bloodbath as markets shift
At press time, Bitcoin (BTC) is worth $51,294.27, up 0.2% from an hour ago and down 0.6% from yesterday. The value of BTC today is 0.6% lower than it was 7 days ago.
The global crypto market cap is $2.04 trillion today, down 0.79% in the last 24 hours and 76.34% from a year ago. As of today, Bitcoin’s market cap is $1 trillion, signifying a 49.18% dominance. Meanwhile, stablecoins’ market cap is $140 billion, accounting for 6.86% of the total crypto market cap.
After reaching record 26-month highs above $53,000, Bitcoin experienced immediate sell-side pressure – even usual sources of support, such as the prospect of buyer interest in spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs), failed to raise sentiment.
Responding, popular trader Crypto Chase emphasized Bitcoin’s ability to close the so-called fair value gap (FVG) on daily timescales, as measured by Fibonacci retracement levels.
Trading company QCP Capital blamed BTC price declines in part on high funding rates. “Funding at these levels is typically difficult to sustain, which means there could be a pullback in price after such a strong move higher,” it stated in its latest market update, which was released to Telegram channel users the same day.
QCP identified an imminent source of potential volatility for risk assets in the form of earnings from tech giant Nvidia, which are due after the U.S. closing. “NVDA is currently trading at 90x P/E, and Q4 earnings expectations have been adjusted higher recently,” it went on to say.
Crypto markets tumble
The crypto market had a rapid plunge on Wednesday, prompting investor concerns. The broader crypto market selloff prompted the global market capitalization to tumble 2.50% to $1.94 trillion. Bitcoin and Ethereum prices fell below $51,000 and $2,900, respectively, as investors reduced holdings ahead of the liquidity flush.
The crypto market lost $300 million over 24 hours, with $60 million lost in the last few hours. Coinglass data show that long positions worth more than $217 million were liquidated today, February 21. Over 103K traders were liquidated in the previous 24 hours, with the largest single liquidation order on Binance‘s BTCUSDT worth $9.70 million. This resulted in a freefall in BTC price, causing the market to hemorrhage.
Bitcoin futures open interest (OI) on CME and Binance declined by more than 3% and 4%, respectively, in the last 24 hours, owing to a poor spot Bitcoin ETF inflow and sell signals. According to data, Bitcoin futures open interest (OI) on CME dipped to $6.62 billion, following a 1% drop in the last four hours.
Ethereum futures open interest (OI) has also fallen over the last 24 hours, with a significant drop occurring only in the last few hours. ETH futures open interest declined 1% on Binance and 4% on Bybit.
The FOMC Minutes are scheduled to be released today, but Fed officials have already become more cautious about rate cuts, expecting the first cut in the year’s second half. Other major events watched by traders included the Fed’s favored inflation index, PCE, and unemployment claims data.
Meanwhile, the US Dollar Index (DXY) continued to rise beyond 104 today. It has remained higher throughout the last few weeks. Furthermore, U.S. Treasury yields climbed as investors anticipate new economic data due this week, which could provide additional insights. The US 10-year Treasury yield is 4.257%, having recently rebounded.
