Bitcoin has taken the biggest nosedive in months amid an ongoing crisis in the crypto markets.
Having agreed to rescue the FTX cryptocurrency exchange following a crushing bank run, Binance has pulled out of the deal, seemingly after acknowledging the dire state of its former competitor's financials.
Withdrawals remain frozen on the FTX platform and while bitcoin itself is largely unaffected, it has shaken confidence in the already tenuous marketplace.
Now changing hands below US$16,700, bitcoin is down 18% week on week; its lowest point since November 2020.
Bitcoin bulls will attempt to defend the US$16,600 support line.
Can bitcoin stabilise following yet another crypto crisis? – Source: currency.com
Ethereum has crashed nearly 25% in the past week to four-month lows on US$1,100.
Solana (SOL), which is linked to FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, is bearing the brunt of the latest bout of crypto contagion having plummeted over 50% in the past week.
As a result, the blockchain has lost its long-held position as a top-10 cryptocurrency.
Ripple (XRP) has had 20% of value carved from its market capitalisation.
Contagion was less severe among the other large-cap altcoins.
Polygon (MATIC) has managed to keep losses in the single digits, while Cardano (ADA), Polkadot (DOT), and Tron (TRX) are also faring comparatively well.
As for FTX Token (FTT), it has lost 90% of its market value since the crisis kicked into gear last Friday.
This spells disaster for Sam Bankman-Fried’s Alameda Research venture fund, which is mainly propped up by now-worthless FTT tokens.
FTT tanks from US$3.2bn to US$320mln – Source: CoinMarketCap
Dogecoin (DOGE) has all but lost the massive gains it recently saw following Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover.
The meme coin is 40% down week on week, bringing its market capitalisation to US$10.6bn.
All in all, global crypto market cap is sitting at US$830bn and while low values have been logged this year, there is a good change of more pain to come.
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