The crypto market experienced a sharp decline on the evening of Friday, April 12, with Bitcoin and altcoins suffering significant hits. While Bitcoin‘s price had been moving sideways over the past few days, trying to hold above $70,000, it fell below the $67,000 level for the first time in a week. As a result of the sudden drop, more than $900 million worth of liquidations occurred in cryptocurrencies within the last 24 hours.
Why Did BTC Fall?
Coinglass futures market data indicates that liquidations related to leveraged Bitcoin and Ethereum positions accounted for a large part of these liquidations.
Additionally, on-chain analytics firm Santiment released a statement identifying the fundamental reasons behind the recent drop in Bitcoin’s price and the overall decline in the crypto market.
Bitcoin’s price fell by over 5% yesterday, plummeting from above $70,000 to around $65,000 within approximately 5 hours. According to blockchain analytics firm Santiment, this drop below $67,000 was the first since April 4.
The value of Ethereum, ranked second by market capitalization, also hosted a more pronounced decline, falling nearly 8% in less than 24 hours.
On the other hand, traditional assets were also undergoing a noticeable correction. This highlighted that the recent downturn in crypto market prices was not unique to the sector. Santiment’s latest report noted that the S&P 500 index and gold prices also fell by 1.5% and 3.4%, respectively.
According to Santiment, the declines in both cryptocurrencies and traditional assets are in line with concerns related to the US CPI and inflation data.
The recent downturn in the stock market and Bitcoin price appears to be influenced by persistent inflation, which prompts the Federal Reserve (Fed) to maintain higher interest rates.
Inflation, which has yet to show the anticipated decline, is raising doubts about the central bank’s plans to reduce interest rates in 2024.
What is Bitcoin’s Current Price?
Following the recent drop, Bitcoin’s price seemed to have recovered slightly. As of this writing, the BTC price is trading at $67,700, indicating a 2.33% decrease over a 24-hour period.
In addition, BTC‘s market capitalization has fallen to $1.33 trillion. The 24-hour trading volume saw a 52% increase, rising to $44 billion.
