While October is a traditionally bullish month for the cryptocurrency space that between 2010 and 2023 saw an average gain of 28.7% for the cryptocurrency according to CCData, this year the month started with an aggressive sell-off.
Market data shows that Bitcoin is at the time of writing trading at $61,350 after falling nearly 4% in the last 24-hour period, erasing the cryptocurrency’s gains over the past week and bringing its 30-day performance down to 5% after it defied its historically poor performance in September.
/2 Since 2010, $BTC average returns in September averaged -4.51%, making it the worst-performing month on record.April and November typically show the highest average returns, followed closely by October – with returns of 35.6%, 39.2% and 28.7%, respectively. pic.twitter.com/3bfu2ak71Y
— CCData (@CCData_io) September 3, 2024
The cryptocurrency’s price dropped after Iran fired around 180 ballistic missiles at Israel in what Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said was a retaliation for the assassinations of Hamas’s political leader and an Iranian commander.
The market turmoil has led to significant liquidations, with Coinglass data showing that over $540 million worth of crypto positions were liquidated in the past 24 hours alone. Long positions were particularly hard hit with over $468 million worth of longs being liquidated, as investors rushed to unwind their bets amid the rising uncertainty.
Source: CoinGlass
The broader crypto market has also been impacted, with the fear and greed index dropping to a “fear” level after seeing a “neutral” lever yesterday and “greed” late last month. The index, it’s worth noting, is based on emotional behavior in the market. When fear sets in, some investors may see a buying opportunity, while greed may be a sign the market is due for a correction.
As CryptoGlobe reported, Bitcoin’s short-term holders have seen their holdings move into a state of profit with the recent price rise, and as a result started selling their coins to the point the amount of Bitcoin held by short-term holders to the tune of 1.31 million BTC, worth around $83 billion, which to the analyst indicates “that fewer BTC are circulating among STHs,” a sign of “growing confidence in the market.”
Featured image via Unsplash.
