LONDON (Reuters) – Top cryptocurrency bitcoin reached a new two-month low on Friday, breaking out of its recent tight range as a wave of sentiment risk grips global markets.
On Thursday, bitcoin fell 7.2% in its biggest one-day drop since November 2022, when top exchange FTX collapsed.
It then fell to a two-month low of $26,172 during Asian trading hours on Friday, the lowest since June 16. By 0713 GMT, it had partially recovered to $26,478, down 0.6% on the day.
Global markets have been hit by a wave of selling, with major Wall Street indices closing lower on Thursday and Asian stocks heading into a third week of losses amid concerns about the Chinese economy and fears that US interest rates will remain high longer given a resilient economy. economy .
Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency, was stable at $1,690.20 after also falling sharply on Thursday.
Joseph Edwards, chief of research at Enigma Securities, attributed bitcoin’s price movement to low volatility and a lack of enthusiasm from retail investors.
Bitcoin has hovered near $30,000 in recent months. It was lifted in June by BlackRock filing to launch a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States.
Some investors interpreted that move as indicating that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission would approve spot bitcoin ETF applications from several asset managers, including Grayscale.
“The big concern right now is that this could be a front run for the outcome of Grayscale’s lawsuit against the SEC; optimism on that front has left markets inflated for much of the summer beyond whether they would otherwise. are,” said Edwards.
(Reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft; Editing by Dhara Ranasinghe)
