The crypto market experienced a flashback from May 2021 as Bitcoin (BTC) crashed intra-day from nearly $52,850 to $42,843 within an hour. Over $3 billion of long positions were liquidated before BTC recovered to trade range-bound between $46,000 to $47,000 for the rest of the day. The crash came right on the heels of fairly bullish news of BTC becoming legal tender in El Salvador. The global crypto market cap plunged by 12.8 per cent to stand at $2.07 trillion as of 9 am IST. Trade volumes across exchanges went off the charts to $239 billion, an increase of 67 per cent, as panic and fear drove sell-offs in the market.

BTC was rejected at the $53,000 level, and dipped past local support at $49,900 and $48,500, all the way to the crucial 0.618 Fibonacci retracement level of $42,500 for a bounce. BTC is currently trading at $46,365, down by 12 per cent. However, its daily trade volumes have grown by 61 per cent amidst this dip. BTC’s dominance is currently at 42.1 per cent with a modest 0.3 per cent gain.

Ethereum (ETH) dropped to an intraday low of $3,005 before bouncing to $3,400, a significant 12.5 per cent decline over the past 24 hours. ETH needs to hold $3,150 as support while it will find resistance on the upside at $3,700 and $3,830.

Major altcoins bled heavily as well, with Ripple (XRP), Internet Computer (ICP), Polkadot (DOT), Polygon (MATIC) and Filecoin (FIL) dropping more than 20 per cent. Solana (SOL) remained the only exception in the top 20 today, retracing most of its 30 per cent dip to end the day at a similar level to yesterday’s $172.

BTC will need to secure a weekly close above $42,000 with the 20-week moving average as critical support to avoid a further decline to $30,000, negating the entire run it has had since July. On the upside, its next major resistance remains at the $52,000-$53,000 range. Altcoins will follow BTC’s price action till its breaches $52,000 again.

Top Gainers today:

1. Near Protocol (NEAR): 43.1%
2. Fantom (FTM): 9.1%
3. Harmony (ONE): 3.6%

Top Losers today:

1. Theta (THETA): -23.9%
2. Synthetix (SNX): -21.8%
3. Internet Computer (ICP): -21.1%

Analysis includes the top 100 cryptocurrencies only as of 9 am IST

Source: CoinMarketCap

Crypto News at a Glance:

1. Invesco Mutual Fund becomes the first company in India to file documents with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to launch a fund, which will offer exposure to Blockchain.
2. The El Salvador government has bought around 150 Bitcoins during the market sell-off yesterday to bring the total balance to 550 Bitcoins amounting to over $28 million in value.
3. Global crypto exchange Bitfinex has launched a new security token offering (STO) platform regulated in Kazakhstan that will provide exposure to blockchain-based equities, bonds and investment funds.
4. Visa Brazil is reportedly planning to integrate Bitcoin payments in the country, with its executives sharing plans for onboarding Bitcoin support on its payment platform.
5. FTX crypto exchange has partnered with NBA star Stephen Curry on charitable initiatives that involves him receiving an equity stake in FTX Trading Limited.

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