Blockchain
Bitcoin (BTC) Price Dips Below $64K as US Stock Selloff Halts Crypto Rally; SOL, LINK Down 2%-4%
Cryptocurrencies sharply reversed early gains during the U.S. trading session on Wednesday with bitcoin (BTC) falling below $64,000 as a broad-based stock sell-off weighed on the digital asset market.
The top cryptocurrency by market cap has sold off 2% in an hour, falling to $63,890 after trading above $66,000 earlier in the session. At press time, BTC was trading at $64,000, down 0.5% over the past 24 hours.
Major Altcoins Like Solana (SOL)cardan (ADA) and Chainlink token (CONNECTION) sold 2%-4% in the same time frame. The broad market cryptocurrency benchmark CoinDesk Index 20 (CD20) fell 1.2% over the past 24 hours, with most components in negative territory.
The action came as major U.S. stock indexes also sold off, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq down 2.7% and the S&P 500 down 1.3%. Large-cap tech stocks like chipmaker Nvidia (NVDA), which have been the biggest contributors to the two benchmarks’ march to new all-time highs, have struggled in recent days as investors rotate into smaller-cap stocks in anticipation of looser interest rates later this year. Nvidia was down 6.5% on Wednesday, though still up 145% year-to-date.
Joel Kruger, market strategist at LMAX Group, said the cryptocurrency rally could stall if the stock market sell-off turns into a deeper correction, but over a longer time frame it could provide a haven for investors fleeing stocks.
“The only concern we have highlighted in recent sessions is our concern about the state of the U.S. equity market and the possibility that we could soon see a strong bearish reversal that allows for a healthy correction,” Kruger said in a note Wednesday.
“But even then, there will be plenty of reasons to want to buy bitcoin as a flight-to-safety asset, and plenty of reasons to want to pick up other cryptocurrencies at times when their potential for massive innovation is declining,” he added.