On Wednesday, the price of Bitcoin fell below the $100,000 mark, falling to an intraday low of $99,997 per coin. The entire cryptocurrency market was hit hard, falling 5.74% in the past 24 hours, and many cryptocurrencies suffered heavy losses.
Bitcoin's roller coaster week: From record highs to below $100,000
It felt like yesterday when Bitcoin surged to an all-time high of $108,364. Guess what? It did! But the next day, Wednesday afternoon, Bitcoin fell to around $105,000. Bitcoin plunged again after the Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting as the central bank hinted at slower rate cuts in the future.
Finally, BTC fell below the $100,000 mark, just a hair away from $99,997 per coin, and as of 8 pm EST on December 18, it was $100,563 per coin. Bitcoin fell 4.8% against the dollar, while Ethereum (ETH) fell 5.5%. While many major currencies only suffered minor setbacks, meme currency assets fell more sharply. The infamous meme currency Peanut Squirrel (PNUT) plummeted 19.24%, and Popcat (POPCAT) followed closely behind with a drop of 18.80%.
In addition to the large number of meme coins, fantom (FTM) fell 12.52%, thorchain (RUNE) fell 12.47%, and theta token (THETA) fell 12.33%. Despite the general downturn in the cryptocurrency market, global trading volume increased by 31% in the past day to $248.41 billion. Tether (USDT), Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) led in terms of daily trading volume. Meanwhile, in the derivatives market, $671.52 million in positions were wiped out in just 24 hours. According to the coinglass.com indicator, most of these liquidations were long positions in BTC, ETH, XRP, DOGE, SOL and LTC.
The market’s recent decline is a stark reminder that the recent bull market euphoria can sometimes be as fragile as a house of cards, with even the slightest macroeconomic shifts leading to wild swings. As Bitcoin rebounds toward the $100,000 mark, the market-wide reaction shows us the extent to which investor sentiment can swing in response to external forces. Memecoins and those who made large leveraged bets have felt the most pain, highlighting the rollercoaster nature of this market cycle.