Crypto has been pummelled in recent weeks by a confluence of factors

    • Bitcoin has slumped about 25% since Oct 21. Its low for the year is US$57,742, reached on Jul 1.
    • Bitcoin has slumped about 25% since Oct 21. Its low for the year is US$57,742, reached on Jul 1. PHOTO: REUTERS

    CRYPTOCURRENCIES tumbled over the Nov 14-15 weekend, with Bitcoin slumping to a four-month low as leveraged long positions were liquidated.

    The largest digital asset sank 5.7 per cent in the US on Saturday (Nov 14) and continued to drop in Asia on Sunday to as low as US$62,112, down a further 3.6 per cent and its weakest since Jul 14. Second-biggest token Ether, which slumped 8 per cent in the US session, fell another 3.4 per cent on Sunday to US$1,711, its lowest since Jul 8.

    “I think this is a technical move, as Bitcoin broke down through its 200-day moving average of about US$73,000, which has caused a slew of liquidations and new shorts to develop,” said Rich Rosenblum, co-founder of crypto market maker GSR. 

    Crypto has been pummelled in recent weeks by a confluence of factors including the expectation of higher US interest rates, large outflows from US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, an AI-fuelled risk-off mood and continued fallout from the recent US$6 billion Binance hack.

    Bitcoin has slumped about 25 per cent since Oct 21. Its low for the year is US$57,742, reached on Jul 1.

    Large liquidation events – in which more than US$500 million worth of Bitcoin positions are wiped over 24 hours – are becoming a recurring feature in the market, as sharp swings repeatedly flush leveraged traders out of their bets. 

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    On Friday, Bitcoin’s slide triggered the liquidation of roughly US$1.3 billion in long crypto bets over 24 hours, with Bitcoin positions accounting for the majority of that sum, according to Coinglass data. 

    In the 24 hours through 9 am on Sunday in Singapore, exchanges tracked by Coinglass recorded about US$2 billion of crypto liquidations, including US$774 million in Bitcoin and US$488 million in Ether. Long positions accounted for the vast majority of the liquidations.

    From Oct 30 through Nov 13, US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs saw almost US$3 billion in net outflows.

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    Richard Galvin, executive chairman at crypto investment firm DACM, said the impending initial public offering of artificial intelligence company Anthropic may be drawing capital away from crypto.

    “Price performance looks very similar to what happened through the SpaceX IPO pricing period earlier this year,” Galvin said. “It appears crypto remains a short-term funding source, particularly for retail investors. This is in addition to all the other macro headwinds.” BLOOMBERG

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