Wall Street closes at a record for the first time since end of January
Investing.com-- Bitcoin on Monday halted a sharp sell-off from over the weekend that pushed prices down to around $75,000, as heavy liquidations in leveraged positions and growing macro uncertainty weighed on sentiment.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency was last up 1.6% at $78,502.9 by 17:00 ET (22:00 GMT), after slipping to as low as $74,635.5 -- levels last seen nearly ten months ago.
Bitcoin is a little short of reaching a 15-month low near $70,000 amid continued selling pressure.
Bitcoin slumps over the weekend amid heavy liquidations
The downturn triggered widespread damage across the digital asset market. Roughly $111 billion was wiped off the total crypto market capitalization in the past 24 hours, according to data from CoinGecko, underscoring the scale of the rout.
About $1.6 billion in leveraged positions were liquidated, data from Coinglass showed, as falling prices forced traders to unwind bullish bets at a rapid pace.
Thinning liquidity, particularly during weekend sessions, exacerbated the sell-off. As prices fell through key thresholds, stop-loss orders and margin calls accelerated declines, creating a feedback loop that amplified volatility across major tokens.
Bitcoin’s slide has also been linked to broader risk-off sentiment in global markets, following renewed focus on U.S. monetary policy.
Trump’s Fed Warsh nomination weighs on crypto
U.S. President Donald Trump has nominated Kevin Warsh as the next Federal Reserve chair, a move that prompted a reassessment of the outlook for interest rates and liquidity conditions.
Warsh, a former Federal Reserve governor, is widely viewed as having a hawkish bias, particularly on inflation control and balance-sheet discipline.
His stance could imply tighter financial conditions compared with expectations earlier this year, dampening appetite for speculative assets such as cryptocurrencies, which tend to benefit from abundant liquidity and lower borrowing costs.
"Warsh’s past criticism of QE and the Fed’s use of its balance sheet to enhance monetary policy transmission triggered an immediate unwind in trades that had benefitted from currency debasement concerns, including bitcoin and other crypto tokens," said David Scutt, market analyst at StoneX Group.
Bitcoin has fallen sharply from record highs hit last year, erasing a significant portion of gains that were fuelled by optimism over institutional adoption and looser financial conditions.
Crypto price today: altcoins extend declines; Ether at 7-mth low
Most altcoins also rose on Monday, recovering from their sharp losses over the weekend.
World no.2 crypto Ethereum added 1.2% to $2,343.62, after having reached seven-month lows in the previous session.
World no. 3 crypto XRP gained 2.2% to $1.62.
Solana climbed 4.2%, while Cardano was up 5.2%.
Among meme tokens, both Dogecoin and $TRUMP edged higher.
Ayushman Ojha contributed to this article
