Bitcoin price traded below $19,000 on Wednesday morning, as the leading cryptocurrency plummeted to its lowest level since July, due to a decline in global stock markets and the U.S. dollar’s sustained strength.
As of this writing, Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $18,741, down 5.5% in the last seven days, data from Coingecko show, Wednesday.
The last time Bitcoin fell below $19,000 was on July 4, when its price reached $18,600. The current level is a 25% correction from the August 15 rally to $25,000.
Prior to reaching $18,600, BTC touched $18,900 in November 2020 en route to its all-time highs of nearly $60,000 a year later.
Bitcoin Price Feeling The Pressure Of U.S. Market
At 7:46 a.m. Eastern Time, BTC was trading about $18,745, a decline of more than 5%, according to CoinDesk data. Ether, which has significantly surpassed Bitcoin’s advances in recent weeks, fell nearly 10% to $1,514.
Multiple factors appear to be causing investors to distance themselves from Bitcoin. As usual, the asset’s recent huge volatility is highly associated with the U.S. stock market.
Following a turbulent trading session on Wednesday, stocks declined, in part because of worries that the Federal Reserve will continue to jack up interest rates.
Since U.S. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell’s remarks on August 27 were followed by a $1.25 trillion loss in U.S. stocks in a single day, the market has been in a bit of a rut.
Powell stated at the annual Jackson Hole Economic Conference that bigger interest rate hikes remained a possibility, forcing the S&P 500 to settle 3.5% lower that day.
Russia Oil Shutdown Takes Toll On Bitcoin Price
Meanwhle, the number of Bitcoin wallets holding between one and 10 BTC has reached an all-time high even as the market capitalization of the world’s most valuable cryptocurrency falls below $19,000.
Since the BTC price fell below $50,000 in late December 2021 and early January 2022, the number of addresses holding between one and 10 bitcoins has steadily increased, according to the most recent data.
As this developed, the central bank’s tightening of policy has bolstered the U.S. greenback, weighing on risk assets. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note has also risen.
According to analysts, Bitcoin’s decline has increased following last week’s announcement that Russia shut down the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, blocking gas to Europe and unsettling markets. Despite this, Bitcoin aficionados remain unfazed.
Bitcoin positions were liquidated to the tune of $77 million due to the current price decline, with over $40 million liquidated in the previous hours alone. A large chunk of BTC was sold after its price dropped to roughly $18,963.
BTC total market cap at $357 billion on the daily chart | Source: TradingView.com
Featured image from Open Access Government, chart from TradingView.com
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