The Bitcoin bull run is not over despite the price of Bitcoin plummeting to below $67,000, analysts say. <\/p>\n
An 8% drop triggered more than $800 million in liquidations in the past 24 hours, according to CoinGlass data. And Bitcoin accounted for about $283 million of those liquidations. <\/p>\n
But market watchers are optimistic, pointing to the performance of Bitcoin and Ethereum in recent weeks where they quickly regained value after big price drops. <\/p>\n
Macro will rule out here, Jonathan de Wet, chief investment officer at digital asset trading firm ZeroCap, told DL News. If the US economy really hits the skids, then I think well get a more protracted downside. On balance, I still think we are bullish. <\/p>\n
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The prediction comes after a rally that has largely been driven by the approval of 10 spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in January. <\/p>\n
Volumes of $65 billion flowed through US spot Bitcoin ETFs in March alone, breaking records set in February, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Eric Balchunas tweeted on Thursday. <\/p>\n
Bitcoin surged to a record high, surpassing $73,000 earlier this week, and is expected to reach $150,000 to $200,000 over the next year, depending on who you ask. <\/p>\n
Analysts gave different reasons as to why crypto prices dropped on Thursday. <\/p>\n
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De Wet suggested macroeconomic factors likely caused the drop in crypto prices. <\/p>\n
We saw outlier inflation figures and lower-than-forecast retail sales in the US on Thursday, he said. High inflation, low growth is a tough scenario for central banks amid a stagflation narrative. <\/p>\n
Ryan McMillin, chief investment officer at Australian crypto fund manager Merkle Tree Capital, said the price decline was likely due to leveraged long positions being flushed. <\/p>\n
A flush in leverage refers to a market event where traders using borrowed money to buy assets, like Bitcoin, are forced to sell to cover their positions amid a significant drop in asset prices. <\/p>\n
Such events have become more frequent since the launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs, according to McMillin. <\/p>\n
This could be a new market dynamic we have to get used to, but ultimately a positive to reset leverage before the next move up, he said. <\/p>\n
Selling pressure can lead to rapid price declines, triggering a cascade of sell orders from other leveraged positions. <\/p>\n
As a result, $546 million worth of long positions were liquidated across the crypto market, with Bitcoin accounting for $220 million, CoinGlass data shows. <\/p>\n
There are signs that insitutions are also exiting the market. The washout wiped $2 billion from open interest in both futures and perpetual contracts over the last 24 hours, according to Coinalyze data. <\/p>\n
A futures contract is a legal agreement to buy or sell a security at a predetermined price at a specified future date, while a perpetual contract is similar but without an expiry. <\/p>\n
This is leveraged longs having their stops hunted, McMillin said, referring to a strategy where traders aim to squeeze others out of their positions by driving an assets price up, triggering so-called stop-loss orders. He added that the open interest wipe-out was a fair whack. <\/p>\n
Sebastian Sinclair is a markets correspondent for DL News. Have a tip? Contact Seb at sebastian@dlnews.com<\/a>. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n See original here: <\/p>\n Two reasons behind the Bitcoin slump and what will drive 'the next move up' - DLNews<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Bitcoin bull run is not over despite the price of Bitcoin plummeting to below $67,000, analysts say. An 8% drop triggered more than $800 million in liquidations in the past 24 hours, according to CoinGlass data. And Bitcoin accounted for about $283 million of those liquidations. Continue reading