The crypto market capitalisation has been rapidly shrinking since the start of the new week, falling by 5% to $2.38 trillion, its lowest level since early April. It appears that confidence in the prospects of cryptocurrency has fallen sharply following reports of a largely symbolic sale from ’s balance sheet, which may be followed by more active selling from other holders.
We also cannot rule out an ‘Iranian connection’, as reports of seizures of Iranian cryptocurrency undermine the notion of anonymity and untraceability that has long underpinned the crypto market. The solid performance of supposedly anonymous coins fits neatly into this hypothesis. Thus, over the past 24 hours, the top performers have been (+14.8%), (+10.2%) and (+5%). The three worst performers are (-13.2%), (-10%) and Bitcoin (-4.3%).
Bitcoin is accelerating its decline, having fallen to $69K, even though it started the week just above $74K. As expected, the drop below the 50-day moving average a week ago followed more than a week of selling pressure at that level. Technically, the leading cryptocurrency faces relatively few obstacles on its way down to the $65-66K range, but further down, longer-term support may come into play, having halted the decline in February and March.
According to CoinShares, global investment in crypto funds fell by $1.671 billion last week, marking the largest outflow since January. Investments in Bitcoin fell by $1.438 billion (the largest outflow from BTC this year), in by $257 million, in by $1 million, and in by $1 million. Investments in altcoins rose by $20 million in , $11 million in , and $8 million in Near.
Sentiment towards Bitcoin on social media has reached its most positive level since the start of the year, despite the crypto market’s decline in May, Santiment notes. In the past, such surges in optimism have often coincided with local price highs for the asset.
Strategy has sold Bitcoin for the first time since 2022. Last week, 32 BTC were sold for approximately $2.5 million at an average price of $77,135 per coin. The largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, which had previously promised never to sell the asset, will use the proceeds to pay dividends on preference shares.
As a result of the latest adjustment, Bitcoin’s mining difficulty rose by 1.72% to 138.96 T. The figure has returned to its April highs.
Telegram founder Pavel Durov has renamed the cryptocurrency Toncoin () to Gram (GRAM), describing the rebranding as a return to its roots. The blockchain will retain the name TON (The Open Network). No action is required from token holders.
The FxPro Analyst Team