Bitcoin slumps to lowest level in two months as selling pressure continues (BTC-USD)

01/23/2024 21:34
Bitcoin slumps to lowest level in two months as selling pressure continues (BTC-USD)

Bitcoin drops to lowest level since December as traders lose excitement about spot bitcoin ETFs, causing selling pressure in the crypto market.

Closeup of bitcoin coin in a shopping cart with euro coins. BTC coin with dark background.

N Rotteveel/iStock Editorial via Getty Images

Bitcoin (BTC-USD) took another beating in Tuesday morning trading, dropping to its lowest level since the beginning of December.

The largest cryptocurrency by market cap (BTC-USD) slumped 4.7% to $38.5K at 9:34 a.m. ET, adding to its losses in the previous session, as traders' excitement about the recent approval of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds continued to fade.

Since spot bitcoin (BTC-USD) ETFs started trading in the U.S. on Jan. 11, the token has cratered some 15%. Perhaps part of this recent weakness can be attributed to sales from the FTX (FTT-USD) bankruptcy estate, which has offloaded most of its shares in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust Fund (GBTC) in the first three days of GBTC trading as an ETF.

The selling pressure in bitcoin (BTC-USD) continued to pull other major coins lower. Ether (ETH-USD) dropped 8.4% to $2.16K, cardano (ADA-USD) was off 9.1%, solana (SOL-USD) -9.3% and Ripple's XRP (XRP-USD) -5.8%.

Crypto-tied stocks also were in the red minutes after the opening bell, with MicroStrategy (MSTR) down 4.1%, Marathon Digital (MARA) -4.4%, Coinbase Global (COIN) -5.1%, Riot Platforms (RIOT) -3.7% and Bakkt (BKKT) -0.7%.

Spot bitcoin ETFs: iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) -3.8%, Franklin Bitcoin ETF (EZBC) 1%, Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF (BTCO) -3.6% and Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund (BRRR) -3.6%.

Bitcoin strategy tracking ETFs: ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) -3.3%, Valkyrie Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BTF) -6% and VanEck Bitcoin Strategy ETF (XBTF) -1%.

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