LONDON – Oh boy, it’s been a wild ride! Bitcoin, the king of crypto, just took another tumble. Yup, you heard right! On Friday, it sank to a cringe-worthy two-month low, dragged down by the jitters shaking up markets around the world.
You remember that hair-raising day back in November 2022 when the major exchange FTX went belly up? Well, Bitcoin’s slide on Thursday was its steepest since that fateful day. The numbers tell the tale: it plunged by a whopping 7.2% in just 24 hours. Gulp!
And just when we thought it might have found its footing, it tripped again, dipping to a pitiful $26,172 during the early morning buzz in Asia. That’s the lowest it’s been since mid-June! But, hang on, there’s a tiny silver lining. By the time Big Ben in London struck 8:35 AM, the ol’ BTC had dusted itself off a bit, climbing back to $26,441, which is still 0.8% down for the day.
You see, it’s not just Bitcoin feeling the blues. Stocks worldwide have been on a wild roller coaster. Wall Street? Down. Asian stocks? Sinking for the third week in a row. And all the chatter? It’s about China’s shaky economy and the U.S. keeping interest rates sky-high for longer.
Now, Ether, Bitcoin’s younger sibling, managed to hold its ground at $1,685.20, even after Thursday’s nosedive. Kudos!
Word on the street? Some are pointing fingers at Elon Musk’s SpaceX for ditching their Bitcoin stash, taking a $373 million hit. And let’s face it, when Musk talks (or tweets), the crypto world listens. Seems like the SpaceX news was the last straw that broke the camel’s back.
Ben Laidler, a bigwig strategist at eToro, chimed in, “Look, it’s not just about SpaceX. The whole financial world’s on edge. Even crypto, usually a wild child, can’t escape this mad selling spree.”
Then there’s Joseph Edwards from Enigma Securities. He thinks the Bitcoin dip is because folks just aren’t that into it right now. “Bitcoin’s been lazy, hovering near $30,000 for a while. Last year was rough, with some crypto big names crashing and burning. Investors? Well, they were left holding the bag.”
But hey, there was some good news earlier this summer! BlackRock made moves to launch a Bitcoin ETF in the U.S., sparking hopes of a thumbs-up from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for other players like Grayscale.
Yet, Edwards warns, “We might be counting our chickens before they hatch. If Grayscale’s lawsuit against the SEC goes south, the inflated optimism could burst like a bubble.”
Well folks, it’s a wait-and-see game now. Fingers crossed! š¤š
