Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, experienced a sharp decline on Tuesday, falling to its lowest level since November. The price of BTC dropped below $90,000, losing up to 7.5% at one point – marking its largest daily decline since the global financial market sell-off in August last year.
Several factors contributed to this downturn, including:
One of the biggest negative events impacting market sentiment was last week’s $1.5 billion hack on the Bybit exchange. This heist is now considered the largest known theft of digital assets in history.
Bybit CEO Ben Zhou confirmed that hackers targeted a cold wallet – a storage method that is usually kept offline for added security. However, this did not prevent the breach.
According to blockchain research firm Elliptic, this attack was more than double the size of the previous largest crypto heist and „is almost certainly the biggest known theft of any kind in history.”
Dubai-based Bybit is currently the second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, trailing only Binance.
Not only Bitcoin suffered from the negative market sentiment. Ethereum (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency by market value, plunged 9.5% to $2,386 – its lowest level since October.
In the last week alone, Bitcoin has lost nearly 8% of its value, but smaller altcoins have been hit even harder.
The recent market developments highlight how volatile cryptocurrencies remain, especially in the face of macroeconomic events and security breaches. While Bitcoin ETFs and regulatory optimism initially drove prices higher, the lack of fresh positive news and large capital outflows from crypto funds have created additional downward pressure.
The coming days will be crucial in determining the next direction of the market. Investors will be closely watching:
Will Bitcoin rebound, or will we see further declines? The answer to this question will shape the market in the near future.
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