Updated: December 19, 2024
Key Takeaways
Bitcoin and Ether experienced significant price drops, with Bitcoin falling below $50,000.
Major crypto-related stocks like Coinbase and MicroStrategy suffered substantial losses.
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Crypto prices and stocks related to crypto plummeted on Monday as global markets reacted to disappointing US economic data and escalating tensions in the Middle East. The downturn affected major cryptocurrencies, mining companies, and crypto-focused businesses.
Bitcoin, the largest crypto by market capitalization, experienced a sharp decline of up to 15%, briefly falling below $50,000 for the first time since February before recovering to around $51,000. Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, continued its downward trend for the seventh consecutive day, marking its most significant drop since at least May 2021.
Global market downturn
The broader crypto market saw a substantial decrease of nearly 20%, settling at a 17% loss by 6 AM EDT, according to data from CoinGecko, rounding off to $1.8 trillion. This downturn coincided with falling equity markets in Asia and Europe, reflecting a global shift in investor sentiment.
Crypto mining companies were among the hardest hit in the stock market. Marathon Digital and Iren both saw declines of almost 14%, while Hut 8 and Riot Platforms experienced losses of 12% and 11%, respectively. These steep drops in mining stocks closely mirrored the fall in Bitcoin’s price.
Economic data impact, geopolitical tensions
The market turmoil comes in the wake of disappointing US economic data. The Labor Department’s recent jobs report revealed lower-than-expected figures and a higher unemployment rate than forecast, raising concerns about the strength of the world’s largest economy. This follows rising geopolitical tensions have intensified following Iran’s threats to attack Israel in response to the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the political chief of Hamas, in Tehran last week.
Late hours Sunday, Bitcoin’s value dipped to $53,000 with Ether falling sharply due to a panic triggered by the Bank of Japan’s interest rate hike. Bitcoin recently went as low as $49K, though it has recovered a bit to the $51K level at the time of writing, despite broad selloffs triggering over $1 billion in liquidations across sectors.
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