The price of Bitcoin lost more than 2% overnight. The major altcoins fell as much as 10% within a few hours.
As a more aggressive strain of coronavirus emerges, the price of Bitcoin fell within hours. In recent days, the pioneering cryptocurrency had broken its all-time high and even exceeded the USD 24,000 mark. The fall of the cryptocurrency coincides with the traditional markets in the red, among which are stock indexes, stocks, and commodities.
At the time of writing this article, the price of Bitcoin is around USD 22,900, after falling by more than 2% in just 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
At its lowest point, Bitcoin traded just above USD 22,100, according to the same source. This situation occurs in a period in which the main cryptocurrency reaches a market value above USD 24,000.
Traditional markets were also in red numbers within a few hours. The most prominent values are those of Tesla, since the company that Elon Musk runs saw a drop of more than 5% in the value of its shares. Other companies in the technology sector, such as Intel or AMD, have declines of more than 3%.
The S&P 500, Nasdaq, and Dow Jones indexes also show negative numbers, but to a lesser extent. Among commodities, WTI crude fell by 3.5% and is currently trading at around USD 47.51.
It is possible to observe that the main precious metals withstood the bearish momentum, with gold falling by just 0.1%. Meanwhile, silver has appreciated by more than 1%, but the price of other metals such as platinum, copper, aluminum, and lead continues to decline.
According to traditional media such as The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, the market’s behavior is due to the uncertainty about a potential worsening of the pandemic. The finding of a more aggressive strain of coronavirus in the UK has led to the implementation of new restrictions between the island and the rest of Europe. This situation could be creating a climate of tension that is affecting the markets.
Bearish Cryptocurrency Market
Bitcoin is not the crypto asset that has lost the most in the market. Besides, the top altcoins by market capitalization have fallen by much higher percentages.
The main cryptocurrencies experienced a depreciation that even exceeded 10% in cases such as Bitcoin Cash (BCH). The cryptocurrencies that constitute the top 20 fell by at least 5%. Ripple (XRP), Cardano (ADA), and Binance Coin (BNB) followed in percentage the negative performance of BCH.
Despite the current red numbers, Bitcoin remained almost 17% up in recent days. In that period, the pioneering cryptocurrency broke the USD 24,000 mark for the first time in its history.
Of the top 20 cryptocurrencies on the market, only Litecoin (LTC) and BCH had a larger increase in percentage terms in recent days.
Bitcoin fell below the USD 23,000 mark but would remain the most valuable bank in the world. It would even exceed the total capitalization of US bank JP Morgan.
By Alexander Salazar
