Bitcoin Drops Below $84,000 as Market Loses $115 Billion in Value
On Friday, the cryptocurrency market experienced a significant decline, erasing earlier gains. Key points include:
- Bitcoin (BTC) fell from nearly $88,000 to $83,800, a 3.8% drop in 24 hours.
- The CoinDesk 20 Index decreased by 5.7%, with Avalanche (AVAX), Polygon (POL), Near (NEAR), and Uniswap (UNI) losing almost 10% each.
- The total cryptocurrency market value decreased by $115 billion.
- Ethereum's ether (ETH) dropped over 6%, reaching its lowest price relative to BTC since May 2020.
- No net inflows were recorded for ETH exchange-traded funds since early March, while BTC ETFs saw over $1 billion in inflows recently.
- U.S. stocks also declined due to poor economic data; the S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell 2% and 2.8%, respectively.
- Key inflation indicators showed a 2.5% year-over-year increase, raising concerns about economic growth.
- The Federal Reserve of Atlanta projected a 2.8% contraction in U.S. GDP for Q1, increasing stagflation fears.
- Upcoming U.S. tariffs on April 2 are adding to market anxiety.
- Bitcoin's correlation with Nasdaq could impact future crypto performance, but it may also be filling a price gap around $84,000-$85,000.
Market strategist Joel Kruger noted that despite ongoing corrections, positive trends in crypto policies and traditional finance firms entering the sector could support digital assets later this year.