Bitcoin loses US$30,000 peg, Ether falls as risk-off sentiment spreads to cryptocurrencies
Bitcoin fell below the US$30,000 support line in Friday morning trading in Asia as traders took profits amid worries about interest rate hikes in U.S. markets that drove investors into so-called risk-off mode, which pulled equities lower.
Ether fell along with most other top 10 non-stablecoin tokens. Solana dodged the bearish sentiment to jump more than 6%.
Despite the declines, the cryptocurrency Fear & Greed Index stands in the Greed territory at 56, as institutional interest in Bitcoin looks solid.
Losing ground
Bitcoin fell 1.88% over the last 24 hours to US$29,919 at 07:20 a.m. in Hong Kong to post a loss of 1.68% for the past seven days, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
The world’s leading cryptocurrency reached US$31,399 on Thursday night, the highest in 13 months.
With strong economic data in the US, good earning expectations and employment data in the private sector, investors are seeing increasing chances of further rate hikes; bond yields rose while equity indexes fell sharply,” said Justin d’Anethan, head of APAC business development at Belgium-based crypto market-maker Keyrock.
“The broad sell-off in risk assets undoubtedly affected crypto traders’ sentiment and new highs were seen as a profit-taking opportunity, rather than a chance to go long and hope for even higher prices,” d’Anethan said.
Large financial institutions show increasing interest in Bitcoin, according to the Bitcoin Monthly June 2023 Report by asset manager Ark Invest on Thursday, which highlighted the balance of Bitcoin held on over-the-counter (OTC) desks, a proxy for institutional activity, hitting a one-year high in late June.
By the end of the quarter, the OTC Bitcoin balance had increased by 60% sequentially,” Ark Invest wrote in the report, which suggests “institutions and other large capital allocators are focused increasingly on Bitcoin.”
Ether fell 3.13% to US$1,851, leaving it flat for the week.
The token reached a high of US$1,956 on Thursday evening, but soon lost ground as investors took profits.
Most other top 10 non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies also logged losses in the past 24 hours, with the exception of Solana’s SOL and Tron’s TRX.
Solana jumped 6.48% to US$20.12, moving up 12.52% for the week.
The token breached the US$20 resistance level on Thursday evening for the first time since June 7 as sentiment received a boost from a partnership between Coca-Cola Serbia and Solana’s non-fungible token (NFT) platform SolSea.
The two will launch Coca-Cola brand NFTs at the Exit Festival in Serbia from July 6 to 9.
The total cryptocurrency market cap fell 1.45% to US$1.17 trillion in the last 24 hours, while crypto trading volume rose 37.62% to US$43.26 billion, according to CoinMarketCap data.
Byfinance.yahoo
