The price of most cryptocurrencies has dropped slightly in the last 24 hours, after Nasdaq had its worst trading session since 2011, dropping nearly 4.5% in a day before traders helped the market recover after hours.
According to CryptoCompare data bitcoin, the flagship cryptocurrency, dropped about 0.5% in the last 24-hour period to about $6,470, while Ethereum’s ether, the second largest crypto by market cap, dropped about 1% to $201. Most other top altcoins are in the red by anywhere between 0.5% and 1.6%.
Notably he cryptocurrency market’s negative performance dwarfs that of the equities market, which recently faced a major sell-off related to a potential China-US trade war and the European Union officially rejecting Italy’s budget.
As CNBC points out, on October 11 bitcoin’s price fell more than 4% and both ETH and XRP dropped 11% when the stock market dipped at the time, which saw some question whether cryptocurrencies could be used to hedge against financial instability.
Speaking to the news outlet Joe DiPasquale, the CEO of crypto hedge fund BitBull Capital, stated at the time that uncertainty around stocks had “blend into crypto markets.” He said:
“When we saw equity markets crumble, there was some fear in the cryptocurrency market as well. I think there was an initial jolt due to larger market activity and the sell off”
The October 11 dip notably also coincided with the release of a report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that argued crypto assets could lead to financial vulnerabilities. In the report it was noted that attacks and digital breaches “represent an additional source of risk.”
Cryptocurrency prices have recently seen slight gains when the equities market started dipping this week after Bakkt, the platform that’s set to be launched by the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), owner of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), revealed it was going to launch its daily bitcoin futures contracts later this year.
Moreover, as CryptoGlobe covered, sources at the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) revealed “approval confidence” for a bitcoin ETF is “high,” as VanEck and SolidX reportedly solved all the issues the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had.
On the regulatory side, Albania’s government has recently revealed it’s “assessing and working” on drafting cryptocurrency regulations in a bid to become a regional hub and attract “well-paid” job opportunities to the country.
Bitcoin has been bound to a range over the past few months, and a break above its 200-day moving average at $7,200 could see it start surging again, according to analysts. In the long run, some are still extremely bullish. Jim Blasko, the founder of Bitcoin Talk Radio, has predicted BTC could hit $200,000 by 2020.
