Hassan Maishera
TL;DR
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Bitcoin lost 5% of its value in the last 24 hours and is now trading below $97k per coin.
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The poor performance follows strong economic data, lowering investors' expectations of further rate cuts this year.
BTC Dips Below $97k, Leading to $300M of Crypto Liquidations
The cryptocurrency market has shed most of the gains accumulated this year following yesterday’s flush. Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency by market cap, lost 5% of its value in the last 24 hours and now trades below $97k per coin.
At press time, Bitcoin’s price is $96,554 and could dip further if the bearish momentum continues. The poor performance comes following stronger-than-expected job openings and ISM Services PMI, which lowered investors' expectations of further rate cuts this year.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics' JOLTS job openings for November rose to 8.1 million from 7.8 million the previous month, well above the 7.7 million market analysts had predicted.
The ISM Services Purchasing Managers Index, a monthly gauge of the level of economic activity in the services sector, was also released simultaneously. The index came in at 54.1 for December, surpassing expectations for 53.3 and nicely ahead of November's 52.1.
Furthermore, the Prices Paid subindex was 64.4, compared to the expected 57.5 and 58.2 in the previous month.
The two reports negatively affected the stock and crypto markets, while the bond market recorded excellent gains. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield surged by another five basis points to 4.68% and within a few ticks of multi-year highs.
Altcoins Suffer Huge Losses
Bitcoin’s poor performance also caused altcoins to record huge losses. Ether, the leading altcoin by market cap, has fallen 8% in the last 24 hours, dropping below the $3,400 mark. XRP has shed 5% of its value, allowing Tether’s USDT to reclaim its position as the third-largest cryptocurrency by market cap.
Dogecoin (DOGE) is the worst performer among the top 10 cryptocurrencies, losing 10% of its value and dropping to $0.3495. BNB, Cardano (ADA), Tron (TRX), and Solana (SOL) have all been down 5% or more in the last 24 hours.
The poor performance resulted in leveraged traders losing roughly $300 million since Tuesday. Data obtained from CoinGlass revealed that nearly $300 million long positions across derivatives markets were liquidated.
