Bitcoin slides 6%, while altcoins sparkle

Bitcoin fell by as much as 6.5% on Tuesday, on track for its largest one-day drop in two weeks, as a wave of selling hit cryptocurrencies and other risk assets, such as stocks.

The price was last down 5.86% at $63,419, having dropped to a two-week low of $62,966, while ether fell 6.39% to $3,283.

Bitcoin is still showing a 52% gain for the year so far, as investors have piled into US exchange-traded funds backed by spot bitcoin.

The price hit a record high of nearly $74,000 on Thursday last week, which has triggered some profit-taking, along with a series of US data releases that suggested the Federal Reserve may not cut interest rates this year as much as previously thought.

In the last week, bitcoin has fallen by nearly 9%, set for its largest week-on-week decline since last September, while ether has lost 13% following an upgrade to the underlying ethereum network.

But performance has not been as weak across the broader crypto complex.

Smaller tokens, known also as “altcoins”, have drawn in flows of their own. The solana network’s sol token has gained 19% in the latest week, while avalanche’s avax coin has risen by 17%, according to Coingecko. “In light of bitcoin’s recent all-time high and subsequent correction, we anticipate a period of market recalibration as investors seek equilibrium amidst unprecedented inflows into spot bitcoin ETFs,” analysts at exchange Bitfinex said in a note.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 20^th, 2024.

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