By
Bena Ilyas
May 16th, 2024
In addition to the decreased demand for Bitcoin ETFs, analysts also pointed to a slowdown in Bitcoin demand among institutional investors as a contributing factor to the market downturn.
The cryptocurrency market experienced a sharp downturn on April 30, 2024, with Bitcoin (BTC) leading the plunge. Bitcoin’s value dropped below $60,000, marking its lowest point in two weeks after reaching a high of $73,000 in March. The sudden drop resulted in significant liquidation for crypto traders who had bet on Bitcoin’s price increase.
Data from CoinGlass showed that long traders faced losses of $246 million within 24 hours. The downturn in Bitcoin’s price had a ripple effect across the entire crypto market, causing widespread liquidation as investors rushed to adjust their positions in response to the volatility.
Nearly $360 Million Liquidated in Crypto
The total assets liquidated across the market stood close to $360 million. Short traders accounted for approximately $114 million of losses. However, the market has slightly recovered, and the total loss has been reduced to $290.80 million at the time of writing.
In the past four hours alone, traders on both the long and short sides saw combined losses of $8 million, with significant losses reported among BTC, Ether, JTO, and ZETA traders.
Bitcoin is currently trading around $57,000, reflecting a more than 10% decline over the past seven days. Ethereum has also experienced a 7% decrease, trading at $2,870 during the same period, according to CoinMarketCap.
Analysts at CryptoQuant attributed the market decline to waning interest in spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States. They noted that the ETF market could see its first month of significant net outflows since the launch of these investment products in January this year. Confidentially, Coinspeaker reported that Bitcoin ETFs in the US experienced a significant outflow of $5.5 million on April 30.
Contributing Factors to Market Decline
In addition to the decreased demand for Bitcoin ETFs, analysts also pointed to a slowdown in Bitcoin demand among institutional investors as a contributing factor to the market downturn. They observed a decrease in the BTC balance of permanent holders and large investors in the spot market.
“Bitcoin whale demand growth peaked at a monthly growth rate of 12% in late March and has now slowed down to 6%. Price rallies are typically driven by faster growth in bitcoin demand from large investors,” CryptoQuant analysts said.
The report also highlighted a decline in the Coinbase Premium, which has been trending downward since early March, falling below zero in recent weeks. A negative Coinbase premium indicates that the price of bitcoin is lower in the US compared to elsewhere, signaling reduced interest from US investors in purchasing bitcoin, according to CryptoQuant analysts.
“When the Coinbase premium declines below zero,, it means that the price of bitcoin is lower in the US compared to outside the country, pointing to lower appetite from US investors to purchase bitcoin,” CryptoQuant analysts added.