Digital assets took a hit on Friday in Hong Kong as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) both dropped more than 5%. The plunge came after customers fled crypto bank Silvergate, whose stock tumbled 58% during U.S. trading Thursday. Most of the other 10 largest cryptocurrencies by market cap saw similar declines. The market downturn is a reminder of the volatility of digital assets and the importance of doing research before investing.
The crypto market experienced a rapid sell-off on Monday, causing major crypto exchange Coinbase to experience connectivity issues. Nick Ruck of ContentFi, a Web3 venture studio, attributed the volatility to Silvergate having issues and the release of some of Mt. Gox’s bitcoin, which would increase its circulating supply. Other major crypto exchanges, including Binance, Bitfinex, Kucoin, OKX and Kraken, did not report similar issues. The sell-off caused a stir in the crypto market, with investors and institutions becoming jumpy. It remains to be seen how the market will react to the increased volatility.
Bitcoin’s price fell to an intraday low of $22,020 as Asia trading hours began, after remaining roughly steady at $23,500 for most of the past day. Ether also saw a similar pattern, dropping to $1,550 after hovering around $1,650. Bitcoin’s market cap declined by over $20 billion to $431.9 billion, while the overall crypto market cap is at $1.07 trillion. Open interest in bitcoin and ether futures was down 8.8% and 5% respectively in the last four hours. The price of Bitcoin and Ether have dropped significantly in the past few hours, leading to a decrease in the overall crypto market cap. Open interest in futures has also decreased, indicating a bearish sentiment in the market.
