Crypto Economy Slides 8% in Value Shaking Out Billions, Blame Placed on New Covid Variant

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During the last 24 hours, the crypto economy has lost 8% in value as a great number of crypto asset prices dropped significantly during the overnight trading sessions. Crypto markets lost more than $22 billion in value as the leading digital currencies in the top 20 standings lost anywhere between 6% to 20%.

Global Markets Lurch in Fear Over B.1.1.529 Variant

Global markets are shaken today as headlines declare that a new Covid-19 variant called B.1.1.529 is spreading beyond South Africa where it was discovered. The B.1.1.529 variant is said to be more contagious than the Delta variant and it is said to have around 30 mutations. As soon as the headlines broke, markets in nearly every nation worldwide started to tank, and investments tied to the oil and gas sector dive-bombed. For instance, the international benchmark for a barrel of Brent crude slipped in value by 5.3%.

On Friday, the economist and bitcoin advocate Alex Krüger tweeted about how the new variant has roiled global markets. “Global markets spooked today on this new Covid variant,” Krüger said. “Big moves across global markets. Growth stocks trashed, crude oil lower, rates down, rotation back to tech. Traders’ pricing in higher odds of renewed lockdowns on low liquidity conditions. It’s OK, no Covid in the metaverse,” the economist added.

$22 Billion in Value Exits Crypto Economy Leading to an Accumulation of ‘Downtrend Momentum’

The crypto economy lost 8% in value during the overnight sessions on Thursday and into Friday’s mornings trading sessions. At 11:00 p.m. (EST) on Thursday, bitcoin (BTC) was swapping for over $58K per unit but by Friday morning, BTC changed hands for just over $54K per unit. Bitcoin is down 7.9% during the last 24 hours and its market cap is just above the $1 trillion mark. Ethereum (ETH) lost 9.4% during the last day and each ether is changing hands for just above $4K per unit on Friday.

The 11,000+ crypto coins in existence lost more than $22 billion in value and there’s around $200 billion in global trade volume today. Stablecoin trades command more than half of the recorded volume with $115.1 billion in 24-hour stablecoin trade volume. On Friday, Du Jun from Huobi Global shared some market insights tied to bitcoin’s (BTC) current state.

“According to data from Huobi Global, BTC has continued to fall since the morning, and its momentum has increased sharply in the afternoon, and it quickly fell to 54,500,” the Huobi Global analyst said. “The daily decline has exceeded 4,000, and it is still falling. The current position has broken through the minimum point of 55500 in the last round of decline. From a long-term perspective, the downward trend of BTC prices has not changed, and a new round of downward adjustment has arrived,” the analyst added. Du Jun’s market outlook further noted:

Judging from the 4h k-line, the transaction volume increased sharply, which intensified the changes in bitcoin’s price. The price crossed to the lower rail of the Bollinger Band, EMA lines turned down, and DIF crossed DEA downward significantly, which formed a sell signal. It can be expected that the downtrend will weaken and even adjust horizontally in the short term, but the long-term downtrend remains unchanged. From the daily perspective, today’s bitcoin price jumped out of the horizontal adjustment in the past week, and formed a clear linear response to the downtrend one week ago, which means that the adjustment of bitcoin’s price last week is only accumulating the downtrend momentum. In the short term, pay attention to the magnitude of the price correction.

Insititutional and Coronavirus Fears

Alex Kuptsikevich, the Fxpro senior market analyst, also explained how the lurch in global markets put pressure on crypto markets. “Because of the institutional love affair, bitcoin is substantially vulnerable to moments of exit from risky assets when it sells off everything, regardless of the outlook,” Kuptsikevich explained to Bitcoin.com News in a markets update note sent on Friday. “[Bitcoin’s] severe sell-off risks dragging the entire cryptocurrency down with it. From a different perspective, retail investors have developed a reflex to buy crypto on coronavirus fears, with WHO discussing new virus variants and restrictions on air travel,” Kuptsikevich added. The Fxpro analyst concluded:

This means that real crypto-enthusiasts and long-term investors in cryptos may consider buying it out of the severe downturn on the exit of traditional financial institutions.

What do you think about the current state of bitcoin prices and the crypto economy? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.