On Tuesday, major cryptocurrencies experienced a decline during Asian trading hours due to continuous profit-taking and another round of net outflows from U.S.-listed bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on Monday, which dampened bullish sentiment. Bitcoin (BTC) dropped to nearly $66,500, erasing all its Monday gains, while ether (ETH) fell to $3,400, reversing the gains of the previous week. BTC has been fluctuating around the 50-day moving average at $66,000, testing the medium-term uptrend. Additionally, BTC ETFs saw net outflows of $145 million, continuing the poor performance from last week. Notable cryptocurrencies such as dogecoin (DOGE) and Solana’s SOL saw significant losses, dropping as much as 9% in the past 24 hours according to CoinGecko data, leading the decline. Ton Network’s TON decreased by 5%, while BNB Chain’s BNB managed to limit its losses to just 1.5%. The broad-based CoinDesk 20 (CD20), a liquid index of the largest tokens excluding stablecoins, fell by 4.2%. Last week, BTC fell below $65,000 for the first time in a month as net outflows from ETFs surpassed $500 million and the Federal Reserve indicated only one interest rate cut in 2024.
Analyst Perspective
Neil Roarty, an analyst at investment platform Stocklytics, mentioned in an email to CoinDesk that other factors have contributed to the decline. He highlighted the political uncertainty caused by Emmanuel Macron's unexpected decision to call a snap election in France, which strengthened the dollar as traders moved away from the euro. Roarty explained that a strong dollar typically exerts downward pressure on Bitcoin, and significantly lower interest rates and a weaker dollar would be required to push BTC closer to the $70,000 mark.
Neil Roarty
Meanwhile, FxPro senior market analyst Alex Kuptsikevich expressed concerns about the overall bearish sentiment, noting that positive developments regarding ether ETFs did little to support ETH prices. He explained that Ethereum gained over 6% on optimistic ETF expectations after briefly dipping below its 50-day moving average on Friday. However, a nearly 1.5% loss since Monday morning raised concerns about the short-term performance of altcoins. Kuptsikevich concluded that increased liquidity during weekdays is likely to favor bears over bulls by increasing selling interest.
Author
Samuel Ekundayo
Samuel is a seasoned financial journalist based in Lagos, Nigeria. With over a decade of experience in economic reporting, Samuel has turned his focus to the evolving world of cryptocurrencies and blockchain. He holds a master's degree in Economics and is passionate about democratizing financial information.
