Crypto markets in red as macro narrative turns negative 📉

Hello, and welcome to another week in the world of cryptos and personal finance. Today, we bring you updates on how and why the crypto markets nosedived last week. But first, let’s fuel up at the “Beginner’s pit stop” as you prepare to understand mutual fund investments better to grow your money.

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We strive to bring you fresh content on finance every week, so keep an eye on this space and follow the CoinSwitch Money channel for more! For now, let’s take a look at the markets.

Crypto markets have come under severe selling pressure, as global macro uncertainties resulted in a risk-off sentiment. Most tokens are trading sharply lower, with the overall crypto market cap remaining just below $1.1 trillion.

Market leaders BTC and ETH broke important anchored price levels which they had been trading around for weeks, and are now trading around $26k and $1.6k levels respectively, down more than 10% last week.

The low volume and volatility in crypto markets resulted in these outsized moves, which were triggered by a couple of major news breaks causing the sell-off. It was first reported that as per the latest filings, SpaceX has written down its BTC position worth $373mm, and shortly after came the news that one of China's largest property developers Evergrande has filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy in the US.

Markets reacted sharply to these developments and plunged in prices, causing $1bn worth of long positions in BTC and ETH to get liquidated! The cascading liquidations had further selling pressure and sent the BTC price as low as $25k at a point.

There was some bounce back in prices after it was reported that an ETH Futures ETF would likely be approved by the SEC.

The broader crypto markets were a sea of red with several large-cap tokens witnessing significant price falls.

The SEC is ready to appeal against the court's decision in favor of Ripple's XRP, sending the token’s price down by almost 20%. The much-touted launch of SHIB's Shibarium as an Ethereum layer 2, was marred by a bridging disaster resulting in millions of dollars worth of bridged ETH getting lost, which caused a sharp selloff in SHIB prices.

Hedra's HBAR, which had rallied strongly throughout the week after its addition to FedNow's list of partners, couldn't sustain gains and is trading in the red now.

To sum it up

• BTC $26,025 ⏬ 11.50%

• ETH $1,671 ⏬ 9.55%

• XRP $0.5203 ⏬ 17.06%

• SHIB $0.000008201 ⏬ 22.30%

• HBAR $0.06274 ⏬ 3.75%

(All data here is as of 2.15 pm, 21 August 2023.)

As an investor, you probably want to understand what’s causing market movements. So here’s some news to help you process all the action.

• Coinbase Global received approval to offer crypto futures to US retail customers. The move will allow Coinbase to offer Bitcoin and Ether futures directly to eligible US customers. Read more here.

• The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has unveiled its framework for regulating stablecoins. The framework will apply to single-currency stablecoins pegged to the Singaporean dollar or any G10 currency. Read more here.

• G20 nations, supported by the FSB and IMF under India’s presidency, are set to implement the first global crypto regulations ahead of the Leaders’ Summit scheduled for September. Read more here.

• London-based Jacobi Asset Management has listed Europe’s first spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) on Euronext Amsterdam nearly two years after it was first approved. Read more here.

Before you get on with your day, don’t forget to flex those brain muscles with our weekly crypto crossword.

That’s it for now. Thanks for sticking around.

See you later, folks!

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