Benzinga - Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) dipped below $30,000 Wednesday as the wider crypto market experienced a downturn alongside traditional markets.
Stocks associated with cryptocurrency and blockchain also experienced significant losses.
The top cryptocurrency by market capitalization saw a 3.6% drop, trading at $29,440 at the time of writing, according to data from CoinGecko.
Crypto Loses Ground: Ether (CRYPTO: ETH) fell below the $2,000 mark, recording a 5% loss over the last day.
Other altcoins experienced similar declines.
Binance (CRYPTO: BNB) fell 4.2% in the last day, while Ripple (CRYPTO: XRP) lost 3.7% and Cardano (CRYPTO: ADA) decreased by just over 4%.
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Cryptocurrency- and blockchain-related stocks also suffered, with Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) and MicroStrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR) leading the downward trend.
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase's shares were down 3.64% late Wednesday morning at $64.81.
Coinbase shares have surged this year, increasing by 82% since January and leading large-cap stock gains.
MicroStrategy's shares declined 4.03% to $316.55, while Jack Dorsey's Block (NYSE: SQ) experienced a decrease of around 2.8%, trading at $62.11.
A Risk-Off Reaction? Edul Patel, co-founder, and CEO at Mudrex, told Benzinga that major cryptocurrencies experienced a sudden drop following the release of higher-than-expected U.K inflation figures, which showed a rise of 10.1% in the 12-month period.
"As is typical with unexpected events, the market responded with a reaction, causing investors to move away from the riskier assets. It may take some time for investors and traders to evaluate the potential impact of the inflation data and recover from the event," he said.
Eric Chen, CEO and co-founder of Injective Labs, said there are several trends and developments that could have an impact on the crypto market in the coming months and years, including increased institutional adoption, regulatory developments, innovation and new use cases.
Ilya Volkov, CEO and co-founder of YouHodler, said Bitcoin as a crypto benchmark remains in an upward trend channel, as more than 20% of supply stays underwater owned by long-term holders who keep assets out of exchanges.
"Over the last few days the crypto market has experienced relatively high volatility while many on-chain indicators are surprisingly consistent and tell us about the potential of further growth," he added.
Venket Naga, CEO at Serenity Shield, said Bitcoin faces strong resistance around the $30,000 level and after a stupendous rally, it is only natural to see a mild downside.
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