Leading cryptocurrencies Bitcoin and Ethereum dropped several points this morning, with BTC falling below $20,000 and Ethereum edging towards $1,000.
Bitcoin (BTC) tumbled overnight, with the leading cryptocurrency dropping to levels as low as $19,621, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
Last week was a bullish one for cryptocurrencies, as most ended up in the green territory. BTC had also managed to stay above its $20,000 support after weeks of waffling above and below this price.
Bitcoin has this morning, however, shed 3.72% over the past 24 hours and is trading closely near its seven-day low of $19,341.23, indicates CoinMarketCap.
The market capitalization of the largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, has crashed from a whopping $1.27 trillion in November 2021 to under $377 billion today.
As for Ethereum (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency with a market capitalization of $129 billion, it too has slipped to around $1,068, a 6.7% decline over the past 24 hours.
This marks a drop of 78.14% from its all-time high of $4,891.70.
Amid the bearish price action, more than 62,000 traders were liquidated in the crypto market, suggests data from CoinGlass. Over $180 million has been liquidated over the same period.
Ethereum leads liquidations with nearly $62 million liquidated in the past 24 hours, followed by Bitcoin with $59.95 million and Solana with $3.42 million over the same period.
Bitcoin, Ethereum face host of risks
The primary drivers behind the bearish action are the plummeting crypto trading volumes, miner selling pressure, and high expectation of another rate hike from the Federal Reserve.
The total trading volume of cryptocurrencies has dropped to just above $50 billion, a 86% decline from its all-time high of nearly $367.6 billion recorded on May 20, 2021, according to analytics data from CoinMarketCap.
The long-term bearish movement in the price of Bitcoin has also forced many miners to offload their holdings to cover operational costs.
“With the loss of the $30k price level, miners and long-term holders (LTHs) have come under stress,” read a recent report published by Glassnode. Long-term holders refer to Bitcoin holders who don’t sell their holdings for months to years.
Currently, the long-term holders of Bitcoin are facing losses of up to 33%.
Finally, cryptocurrencies flipped bearish after the 75-basis point hike announced by the U.S Fed last month. The Fed is again meeting on July 26, with many expecting another 75-basis point hike.
This meeting may signal even more pain for all risk-on assets.
