Reasons Behind The Recent Bout of Turbulence in the Crypto Sector

Unease festered in the digital assets space over the past week as major coins such as BTC, ETH and ADA parried massive gains. The slide for crypto came amid heightened anxiety from investors after China underscored its resolve to crack down on crypto mining and trading.

Meanwhile, the US Treasury Department unveiled its intent to enforce anti-money laundering laws. US financial watchdogs also proposed that cryptocurrency businesses start reporting over $10K to the government.

Fear over intensifying crypto regulation inflicted severe damage to the market, primarily affecting new investors. Consequently, the fear and greed index, which measures anxieties among traders, plunged to a yearly low of 12, down from the 55 levels seen last month.

The ongoing carnage in the crypto space caught the attention of celebrity investor Mark Cuban. The crypto bull suggested in a May 23 tweet that the “super quick crashes” in crypto markets were attributable to excess leverage and speculation on alternatives to BTC.

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“IMO, a big reason for why we see 60% super quick crashes is that there was just way too many projects stretched to crazy valuations and not enough liquidity to support the prices when new demand dries up,” Cuban explained.

BTC, ETH, and ADA Shed Massive Gains

Bitcoin’s volatility has been on full display over the past seven days as the king coin spiraled more than 50% from its recent peak of $64,829 seen in mid-April. 

BTC prices slumped 29% this past Wednesday amid China’s warnings over the risks associated with crypto before recovering to $38,038. Most top cryptocurrencies lost 7% to 20% of their valuation on the day, while shares of Coinbase exchange plunged 5.4%.

BTC resumed its downward trajectory during the past weekend after China vowed to crack down on crypto, hitting lows of $32,632 on Sunday. The flagship crypto has since managed to climb back above $36,500 but is still down nearly 20% in the weekly chart as per data from CoinMaketCap.

Meanwhile, the ETH price registered an even more severe slump than its bigger sibling BTC in what Mark Cuban described as the “Great Unwind.” At its lowest point, ETH traded for $1,922, down nearly 60% from its recent lifetime high of $4,382 set earlier this month. The top altcoin has since managed to climb back above the $2.2K level.

Cardano, whose native token ADA has had an impressive run since last year, also suffered a significant correction in recent days. The ADA price dipped 22% in the weekly chart amid bitcoin’s latest price retracement. 

Some investors took the correction as a perfect opportunity to buy the dip since they anticipate ADA to rally higher as Cardano gears up for the Alonzo upgrade deployment.

Other top losers in recent days include famous meme-based cryptocurrency DOGE, which plummeted 60% from its recent all-time high of 74 cents seen earlier this month.

One Redditor Explains The Latest Market Crash

The mainstream media blamed the latest crypto market pullback on Elon Musk, fear of heightened regulatory scrutiny, and China’s anti-crypto stance, but one Redditor gave a different reason for the sudden crash.

In a May 23 Reddit post, the user pointed out that the crypto market tanked when the world’s biggest hedge funds were undergoing liquidity tests. These big-money investors went on to dump when the tests didn’t go so well, resulting in a trail of liquidations.

The crypto analyst suggested that hedge funds and banks are currently making moves to cover their asses a bit longer. He advised retail crypto hodlers to wake up and start making counter-moves similar to what happened in the WallStreetBets Redditor’s drama. 

Is the Current Bull Market Over?

The recent market pullback left investors shocked as cryptocurrency prices across the board dipped by over 50%. However, there is a reason for crypto enthusiasts to be hopeful of an imminent rebound. 

The bull market may have only just begun with the latest market rollercoaster, as most digital assets have already recovered at least 25% of what was lost last week. 

Btc

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Despite the intense turbulence that has taken hold over the market, BTC is still up 16% so far in 2021 and approximately 300% from a year ago. Ether is up 175% this year, while DOGE is up over 5,800% thus far in 2021.