The crypto market saw yet another wave of downward motion, mostly due to traders selling their Bitcoin stash. Early on March 12, the price per BTC fell 25% to trade as low as $5,959.67. On some exchanges, Bitcoin saw lows of around $5,200, which further reduced investor enthusiasm.
This is the second substantial price dip for the last seven days, wiping off nearly 30% of the total market capitalization. The total market capitalization of the crypto sector dipped with $50 billion, almost leveling it with the 24h trading volumes of around 164 billion, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
Some crypto portals link the sell-off with the spreading of nCoV-19 disease, which caused widespread turbulence amid the traditional finance sector. “Cryptocurrencies, and Bitcoin, in particular, are entering a short-term bearish market, as investors are concerned about Bitcoin not managing to act as a safe-haven asset,” Mathew Dibb, co-founder of Stack commented.
Furthermore, Bloomberg’s Galaxy Crypto index plummeted with almost 30%, pushing out any potential investors.
Technically, the massive price dump is caused by long position liquidation. Bitcoin alone saw $655 million worth of BTC liquidated on only on BitMEX. Crypto analyst Joseph Young rang the bell, citing that this move would further reduce the ground beneath Bitcoin. Also, Whale Alert reported of $10,7 billion worth of Bitcoin were transferred between wallets on Binance, and $11 billion worth of BTC was transferred from a not-yet specified wallet to the Huobi crypto exchange. Such major coin relocation means that crypto whales are moving their saving, which could further be a catalyst for price fluctuations.
Ethereum (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency to date, saw a 31% price decline, to trade as low as 134.85 from a price point of $249.98 just a week before. Strangely, trading volumes for Ethereum do not show significant increases, as with Bitcoin, for example. The altcoin leader lost a total of 35% over the course of the past week, resulting in a total gain wipeout from the start of 2020.
The other top-10 cryptocurrencies also record over 25% price decreases. Ripple went beneath $0.20 to trade at $0,156224 as of press time. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is down 33%, Bitcoin SV (BSV) lost 36% of its price, while ChainLink (LINK) nears a 40% price wipeout.
On the other hand, stablecoins see increased interest among crypto traders. The world’s largest stablecoin, Tether, broke over the $1,00 barrier, trading at $1,03. Trading volumes also increased, reaching $65+billion, which is one of the best scores for Tether in 2020. The main reason for Tether’s volume increase is the fact most of the traders use the stablecoin as a gateway for buying and selling cryptocurrencies.
USD Coin (USDC) also recorded increased interest, reaching over $1,5 billion in daily trading volumes, which is an all-time high for the stablecoin. Paxos Standard (PAX), True USD (TUSD), as well as Binance USD (BUSD) also received a welcoming push, further cementing the role of stablecoins in crypto trading.