Bitcoin, Ethereum, and major altcoins briefly fell following news that the founders of Samourai Wallet were arrested by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East and post-halving volatility. Within an hour of the DOJ’s announcement, Bitcoin‘s price dropped by 3.6%. According to CoinMarketCap, the price fell below fundamental support levels to $63,710 and then showed a slight recovery to $64,546.
What’s Happening in the Crypto Market?
During the same period, Ethereum fell by 2.51% but failed to recover, dropping to $3,158. The largest altcoin projects also took a hit, with PEPE experiencing a brief 6.4% drop, Shiba Inu falling by 2.7%, and Dogecoin briefly dropping by 3.2% following the announcement.
The sharp price drops in the top two cryptocurrencies by market value triggered widespread liquidation of long positions in the futures market. According to CoinGlass data, in the last 12 hours, $33.08 million worth of long positions were liquidated in Bitcoin, $29.88 million in Ethereum, and about $23 million in the rest of the crypto market.
Notable Discussion in the Crypto Community
The crypto community largely expected short-term volatility following the Bitcoin halving event that occurred just a few days before April 20. Crypto investor and analyst Rekt Capital predicted to his followers on April 24 that the next bull market peak would not occur until about 546 days after the halving event, around the end of 2025.
Despite the overall positive investor sentiment in the crypto market, volatility occurred. The Fear and Greed Index, which measures crypto market sentiment, showed a greed score increase of 15 points this week to 72. The crypto community criticized the recent arrests by the US government, fearing another harsh crackdown on the crypto market, and crypto analyst Ryan Adams stated in a post published on April 24:
“These developers face up to 25 years in prison just for writing code. The US is sending a message. No transaction will be private.”
Fred Krueger claimed on the same day in a post that the arrest was generally not a good look for Bitcoin. Crypto commentator Luke Mikic shared with his followers:
“The US Government’s attack on Samourai Wallet is bigger than most people think.”
