On Tuesday, the value of bitcoin fell to a low of $62,355, experiencing a decline of over 7% against the U.S. dollar in the last 24 hours and a decrease of 12.4% in the past week. This downturn led to the liquidation of a substantial number of bitcoin long positions, with more than $180 million being liquidated since yesterday.
Bitcoin Slides More Than 7% in 24 Hours; $180 Million in Long Positions Liquidated
After hitting its peak at $73,794, bitcoin (BTC) has declined by 14% to stand at $63,000 as of 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time (ET) on Tuesday. Over the previous 24 hours, BTC saw a decrease of 7%, reaching a high of $68,526 and dipping to a low of $62,355 by 7:27 a.m. (ET). Currently, bitcoin’s market cap is at $1.23 trillion, with the cryptocurrency seeing $66.22 billion in trading volume over the last day.
Bitcoin Falls to Sub-$63K as Market Awaits Federal Reserve’s Next Move
The top trading pairs for BTC include FDUSD, USDT, USD, and USDC, with the South Korean won emerging as the fifth largest pairing on Tuesday. The won accounts for 1.92% of all bitcoin exchanges, while the USD makes up 12.94%. Although the global weighted average hovers just over $63,000, in South Korea, BTC’s price remains high at $70,490 per unit. The fall in BTC’s value has also impacted the broader cryptocurrency market, which saw an overall decrease of 8.19% since yesterday.
“Although the pullback is large in dollar terms, it is perfectly normal to see drawdowns of this percentage,” Etoro’s market analyst Simon Peters told Bitcoin.com News on Tuesday. “Historically we have seen drawdowns or pullbacks as high as 30% during bitcoin bull markets. The question now is whether the price has pulled back far enough for investors to buy the dip, or whether the price action could extend its decline.”
Peters continued:
Attention now turns to this week’s FOMC meeting, in particular the press conference with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powel on Wednesday, which could influence the direction of crypto markets in the short term.
Besides the eagerly awaited Federal Reserve meeting on Wednesday, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) is also concluding its negative interest rate policy, a stance held since 2016. The BOJ is setting a new short-term rate target in the 0-0.1% bracket and applying a 0.1% interest to reserves, alongside moving away from its bond yield control strategy. The impact of these macroeconomic developments on bitcoin and the broader crypto market is yet to unfold. Interestingly, QCP Capital reports that “For the first time in awhile the overnight [bitcoin] spot exchange-traded funds saw outflows of -$154.3 [million].”