Bitcoin dips firmly under $16K as crypto market offers with FTX shockwaves

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) has dropped to underneath $16K because the broader cryptocurrency house comes underneath elevated stress from the implosion of centralized crypto trade FTX. The bearish worth motion additionally comes within the wake of risk-off buying and selling within the inventory market.

The digital token, identified for its distinctive volatility, slid 4.5% to $15.77K as of three:15 p.m. ET, in contrast with its November 2021 peak of $68.9K. Ethereum (ETH-USD), the world’s largest altcoin, tanked 6.4% to $1.10K, and different main cryptos like binance coin (BNB-USD) -6.7%, cardano (ADA-USD) -6.6%, dogecoin (DOGE-USD) -10% and polkadot (DOT-USD) -6.2% modified arms in a sea of pink as properly.

The worldwide crypto market cap, which was as excessive as $3T in November 2021, solely stood at $790.3B on the time of writing, based on CoinMarketCap knowledge.

Amid the fallout of FTX, cryptos have taken a a lot tougher hit than equities, which additionally dipped intraday, with all three main U.S. inventory indices buying and selling in unfavorable territory.

With elevated downward stress in cryptos, liquidity on centralized exchanges appeared to have additionally taken a nosedive. For instance, “liquidity on Gemini stays very poor for the reason that FTX/Alameda collapse,” Kaiko Director of Analysis Clara Medalie wrote in a Twitter post. “Common spreads for its #BTC-USD pair elevated from 2bps to greater than 6.”

“There was a pointy drop in liquidity on most cryptocurrency exchanges within the aftermath of FTX and Alameda’s collapse,” Medalie informed Searching for Alpha. Alameda Analysis, Sam Bankman-Fried’s buying and selling agency that performed a key function within the demise of his crypto empire, “was an enormous market maker for crypto belongings, and a variety of different market makers acquired funds trapped on FTX, so there was a visual impression on general liquidity.”

In the meantime, she famous “there was a slight enchancment in liquidity over the previous week as market makers slowly re-deploy capital throughout exchanges.”

Recall crypto dealer Gemini’s lending enterprise halted redemptions and new mortgage originations final week because the FTX downfall resulted in “irregular withdrawal requests which have exceeded our present liquidity.”

Elsewhere, the $10.5B Grayscale Bitcoin Belief (GBTC-USD), down 2.4%, has seen its low cost relative to the underlying worth of bitcoin (BTC-USD) widen to a file 45% on Friday, Bloomberg reported, indicating that market individuals have seen a worse stoop in GBTC than BTC itself. Certainly, GBTC shares dropped 77% prior to now 12 months, whereas BTC plunged 65%. Try Searching for Alpha contributor Paulo Santos’s evaluation on why GBTC’s low cost to BTC has solely elevated.

Unsurprisingly, crypto-related shares bought off throughout the session: Marathon Digital (MARA) -16%, Riot Blockchain (RIOT) -9.5%, MicroStrategy (MSTR) -8.9%, Coinbase International (COIN) -9.7%, Bit Digital (BTBT) -13% and Bitfarms (BITF) -14.3%.

Beforehand, (Nov. 19) Coinbase stated FTX downfall might prolong crypto bear market by means of end-2023.