Bitcoin
slides to $64K amid risk rout, political uncertainty By Investing.com
Investing.com– Bitcoin’s price fell on Thursday, extending a slide seen this week as a broader risk-off sentiment kept traders cautious on cryptocurrencies, while ongoing speculation over the U.S. presidential election also weighed.
The world’s No. 2 token, Ether, also saw extended losses as traders largely ignored the launch of spot exchange-traded funds in U.S. markets this week. The launch attracted a fraction of the capital inflows compared to those seen by spot Bitcoin ETFs earlier this year.
Risk sentiment was hit by a sharp drop in Wall Street indexes on Wednesday as investors sold off major technology stocks heavily after some weaker-than-expected second-quarter earnings.
fell 3.3% in the past 24 hours to $64,024.7 as of 08:57 ET (12:57 GMT).
Bitcoin hurt by political speculation and risk aversion
Bitcoin, and by extension the broader cryptocurrency markets, have also been affected by uncertainty surrounding the US presidential race, especially after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic Party front-runner.
Harris was seen polling better than Biden against Republican candidate Donald Trump, and was also seen gaining broad support from the Democratic Party.
Given Harris’s past as a district attorney who cracked down on for-profit banks and colleges, it seemed likely that she would continue Biden’s agenda of stricter financial regulations in the country, which boded ill for cryptocurrencies.
Media reports said that Harris had reportedly declined an invitation to speak at the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville. This drew the ire of several crypto proponents.
Early speculation about a Trump presidency helped cryptocurrency markets, especially as the Republican candidate has maintained a broadly pro-crypto stance.
Trump is set to speak at the Bitcoin Conference on Saturday.
Bitcoin shaken by Mt Gox token movements
Bitcoin sentiment was also hurt by reports that defunct exchange Mt Gox had transferred more tokens to exchanges, likely preparing for more distributions.
Mt Gox has been a major pain point for Bitcoin’s price as the now-defunct exchange began returning tokens stolen during a hack in 2014. Traders speculated that recipients of the tokens would be largely inclined to sell them, given Bitcoin’s massive price gains over the past decade.
Cryptocurrency Price Today: Ether Falls Amid Little ETF Joy, Altcoins Sink
Among broader cryptocurrency prices, the world’s No. 2 token fell nearly 9% to $3,143.52 on Thursday.
The token was somewhat supported by the launch of spot ETFs in U.S. markets earlier this week, which saw strong trading volumes of more than $1 billion in their debut. But this was much lower than the $4 billion volumes seen by Bitcoin ETFs, indicating relatively lower investor appetite.
Other altcoins also made little progress. The S&P 500 fell slightly, while the S&P 500 fell 5.5% and the S&P 500 fell 6%, respectively.
Among memetokens, it fell 7.2%, while it lost 7.2%.
Marathon Digital (NASDAQ:) Buys $100 Million in Bitcoin, Adopts ‘Full HODL’ Strategy
Bitcoin mining company MARA (NASDAQ: MARA), recently renamed Marathon Digital, announced on Thursday the purchase of an additional $100 million worth of bitcoin.
The company’s shares fell more than 2% in premarket trading on Thursday.
The move comes as part of its “full HODL” approach to its bitcoin treasury policy. This means retaining all bitcoin mined in its operations and periodically making strategic open market purchases.
“Adopting a full HODL strategy reflects our confidence in the long-term value of bitcoin,” said Fred Thiel, Chairman and CEO of MARA.
“We believe that bitcoin is the world’s best treasury reserve asset and support the idea of sovereign wealth funds holding it. We encourage governments and corporations alike to hold bitcoin as a reserve asset.”