Bitcoin, crypto dips as markets weigh possible FTX liquidations

It comes as the broader markets experienced turbulence on Monday with the 10-year Treasury note and the greenback flashing signs of weakness

article-image

mundissima/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

Bitcoin shed more than 3% of its value Monday amid persistent fears FTX could offload hundreds of millions of dollars worth of crypto following possible court approval this week.

The asset briefly dipped to just under $25,000 in early-afternoon US trade before clawing back some losses to stand a little over that figure, Blockworks data shows.

FTX has asked the court for the right to liquidate billions of dollars in crypto with a $100 million weekly cap and the possibility of increasing that limit to $200 million.

As of the end of last month, the exchange held a total of $3.4 billion in digital assets including $560 million in bitcoin (BTC), $192 million in ether (ETH) and $1.6 billion in Solana’s native token (SOL), among others. SOL was down 4.2% to $17.63 while ETH fell 4.6% to $1,542, data shows.

The developments come as traditional markets have experienced turbulence this week. The US Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback’s performance relative to a basket of foreign currencies, dipped 0.5% Monday in anticipation of upcoming inflation figures. 

After eight consecutive weeks of higher highs, the DXY is now flashing signs of a short-term pullback.

Economists are forecasting the yield on the US 10-year Treasury note — currently at levels not seen in 16 years — will experience a notable decrease in the coming months and further into 2024. 

A fall in the yield could signify several potential market conditions, including a shift towards a more risk-averse environment.

According to market-watchers, activity on Monday has less to do with broader factors and more to do with internal trader jitters, fearful of future sell-offs.

“I think the market is focused on the FTX bankruptcy liquidation process, as well as BTC recently trading heavily below the 200-day moving average,” Rich Rosenblum, co-founder and president of GSR, told Blockworks.

Sam Callahan, an analyst at Swan Bitcoin, said traders could be front-running reports that FTX may palm off its digital assets and real estate holdings.

“Bitcoin’s recent price action could have less to do with macroeconomics conditions and more about the market pricing in endogenous factors such as FTX potentially obtaining court approval to liquidate over $250 million worth of BTC on Sept. 13.”

“This recent price action could be the market digesting this news,” Callahan added.


Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the On the Margin newsletter.

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Tags

Upcoming Events

Salt Lake City, UT

MON - TUES, OCT. 7 - 8, 2024

Blockworks and Bankless in collaboration with buidlbox are excited to announce the second installment of the Permissionless Hackathon – taking place October 7-8 in Salt Lake City, Utah. We’ve partnered with buidlbox to bring together the brightest minds in crypto for […]

Salt Lake City, UT

WED - FRI, OCTOBER 9 - 11, 2024

Permissionless is a conference for founders, application developers, and users. Come meet the next generation of people building and using crypto.

recent research

Research Report Templates (1).png

Research

Solana Mobile is a highly ambitious foray into the mobile consumer hardware market, seeking to open up a crypto-native distribution channel for mobile-first applications. The market for Solana Mobile devices has demonstrated a phenomenon whereby external market actors (e.g. Solana-native projects) continuously underwrite subsidies to Mobile consumers. The value of these subsidies, coming in the form of airdrops, trial programs, and exclusive NFT mints, have consistently covered the cost of the phone and generated positive returns for consumers. Given this trend in subsidies, the unit economics in the market for Mobile devices, and the initial growth rate and trajectory of sales, it should be expected that Solana mobile can clear 1M to 10M units over the coming years. As more devices circulate amongst users, Solana Mobile presents a promising venue for the emergence of killer-applications uniquely enabled by this mobile-first, crypto-native distribution channel.

article-image

Crypto’s Wild West era is over — it’s time to embrace regulation to secure the future of digital assets

article-image

Plus, Solana has now surpassed Ethereum in trailing 30-day decentralized exchange volume

article-image

Polymarket betters say Kamala Harris has better odds than Biden of winning against Trump

article-image

Bitcoin’s down Tuesday, while ETH-correlated assets like ENS and ARB see growth

article-image

Plus, let’s check on the nine ether ETFs now trading on US exchanges