Crypto Markets Experience Turbulence as Institutional Investors Stay On the Sidelines

The bulls and bears are embroiled in an ongoing fight for domination of the cryptocurrency market. At the start of the week, top digital assets such as ETH and LTC attempted to make headwinds in what seemed like a bitcoin-led upswing. Instead, however, the crypto space mirrored the persistent weak trend in the traditional markets and shed nearly 7% off its combined market capitalization on July 8.

Bitcoin fell 6% on the day as major global equity indices crashed, while second-ranked cryptocurrency ETH dropped over 8% to hit a low of $2,183. Meanwhile, Shiba Inu-based DOGE has parried gains of up to 10% in the last 24 hours.  

The crypto sector’s recent attempt at a resurgence further took a hit after an unknown whale attempted to short the market with over 5,000 BTC.

According to veteran trader Peter Brandt, bitcoin could continue its downtrend in the mid-term. Furthermore, the avid bitcoin critic predicts that the king coin could collapse below $10K if leveraged speculators are forced to sell off their holdings.

KYC and Audit Solutions For Every Project!

The Euro Pacific Capital CEO launched a poll asking if his followers agreed with his analysis. Still, most respondents believed that bitcoin would stay above that $30K threshold. 

Institutional Investors Grow Weary of Crypto

The primary reason for the current market dip is renewed fears of a slowed-down economic recovery amid the emergence of the Covid-19 delta variant. In addition, the ongoing spread of the deadly strain has triggered a massive sell-off in traditional global markets and spooked Wall Street investors from venturing into the crypto space.

Further bearish cues came from global financial regulators in the European Union, who recently proposed establishing a new agency to clamp down on transparency rules surrounding crypto.

In other negative news for the nascent crypto space, the US SEC has decided to delay its decision on approving investment giant Skybridge Capital’s request to launch a bitcoin exchange-traded fund.

Skybridge Capital CEO Doubles Down on His Bitcoin Bet

Despite the disappointing verdict from the SEC regarding Skybridge Capital’s plans to launch a US bitcoin ETF, the company’s CEO still stands by his bullish prediction that the BTC price will reach $100K by 2022.

Anthony Scaramucci, the founder of Skybridge Capital, predicts that bitcoin adoption will grow as more money managers warm up to the top cryptocurrency. The CEO demonstrated his belief in the flagship cryptocurrency’s prospects by launching the Skybridge Bitcoin Fund a few months ago, an institutional-grade fund dedicated to BTC investment.

Altcoins Are Making Moves

In a week where market-leading crypto assets like BTC and ETH have struggled to hold on to gains, several altcoins in the top-100 have shown signs of resurgence. Among these, DeFi tokens SNX, SUSHI, and FLOW are the week’s top gainers after posting double-digit gains.

Btc

Bitcoin

$28.055
price

0.96356%
price change

TRADE NOW

The bullish price action from altcoins has prompted renowned trader Michael van de Poppe to argue that the current market conditions should favor bitcoin’s competitors. He predicts that a handful of them will continue outperforming BTC in the short term.