The crypto market dropped after Bitcoin immediately turned away from its all-time highs above $108K ahead of the Fed rate decision.
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The cryptocurrency market took a hit today, with the total market capitalization dropping by around 3% to about $3.65 trillion on Dec. 18.
This sudden plunge has left many investors scratching their heads, trying to understand the core catalysts behind this downturn and whether more losses are on the horizon.
Cryptocurrencies, Federal Reserve, Central Bank, Bitcoin Price, Bitcoin Regulation, Economy, Markets, Stocks, Inflation, Interest Rate, Binance, Stablecoin
24-hour performance of large-cap cryptocurrencies. Source: Coin360
Let’s look closer at the factors driving the crypto market down today.
Bitcoin leads the market slump
Today’s crypto market decline is part of a correction that started during the late New York trading hours on Dec. 15 when Bitcoin
BTC
tickers down
$96,757
tumbled from an all-time high of $108,364 reached on Dec. 17 on Bitstamp.
BTC price dropped as much as 5% to an intra-day low of $103,173 on Dec. 18. The decline in BTC triggered panic selling among crypto investors, with cryptocurrencies dropping across the board.
Ether
tickers down
$3,424.27
extended its two-day losses, dipping as low as $3,800 on Dec. 18, marking 4% losses over the last 24 hours.
Other top-cap cryptocurrencies posting significant losses on Dec. 16 are Dogecoin
DOGE
tickers down
$0.3551
, Cardano
ADA
tickers down
$1.01
and Tron
TRX
tickers down
$0.2549
, which are down 3.4%, 3.4% and 6%, respectively.
Massive liquidations across the derivatives market accompanied this downturn in the crypto market.
Data from CoinGlass shows that a total of $419 million have been liquidated over the last 24 hours, with $333 million making up long positions. Long BTC leveraged positions totaling $53 million have also been liquidated on the day.
