The Currency analytics
By Jean-Luc Maracon
The leading cryptocurrency dropped below the $70,000 mark this Wednesday, losing over 3% in 24 hours. Over the past week, it's down 12%. Traders are watching closely.
There had been a slight rebound recently. It had given investors hope, like "maybe we're back on track." But no.
The crypto sentiment index shows 9 out of 200. Nine out of two hundred. In other words, confidence is low. Distrust prevails in digital assets.
The situation remains tense, and major exchange platforms are silent on this latest drop. No official comments. All eyes are on the market's next moves.
Bitcoin isn't alone in its decline. Ethereum lost 4% over the same period. Binance Coin and Cardano fared even worse with 5% and 6% respectively.
On February 10, Coinbase released a chilling report. Transaction volumes fell by 20% compared to the previous month. This shows that investors are cautious, very cautious indeed.
Jesse Powell, CEO of Kraken, is even more pessimistic. At a conference in New York, he said the market could face more turbulence in the weeks ahead.
On February 9, Chainalysis released an analysis that doesn't help. Fraudulent transactions slightly increased, reaching 2% of total transactions in January.
Gary Gensler, chairman of the SEC, added to the pressure on February 8. He reiterated the importance of increased oversight of crypto markets.
MicroStrategy is also feeling the impact. On the same day, the company's shares fell by 7% following Bitcoin's decline.
Then there was the Binance incident. On February 7, the platform temporarily suspended Bitcoin withdrawals for a few hours. Technical issues, they said.
JPMorgan released a note on February 6 that gives pause for thought. The bank believes Bitcoin could face additional pressure if technical support levels don't hold.
Fidelity Investments is making moves. On February 5, the company announced it would temporarily reduce its exposure to Bitcoin in some of its funds.
Tesla remains in observation mode. On February 4, Zach Kirkhorn, Tesla's CFO, said during a conference call that the company continues to closely monitor Bitcoin movements.
Rishi Sunak, the UK's Finance Minister, is also concerned. On February 3, he expressed his worries about Bitcoin's potential impact on traditional financial markets.