-
Bitcoin
has
lost
over
16%
in
April,
on
track
for
its
worst
month
since
November
2022. -
BTC
could
drop
to
the
mid-to-low
$50,000
region,
Ledn
CIO
said. -
The
Hong
Kong
spot
crypto
ETF
debut
wasn’t
as
poor
as
it
was
made
out
to
be,
a
Bloomberg
Intelligence
ETF
analyst
noted.
It
might
be
time
to
call
the
cryptocurrency
correction
a
bear
market,
as
bitcoin
(BTC)
tumbled
below
$60,000
with
what
appeared
to
be
a
poor
debut
of
spot
ETFs
in
Hong
Kong
and
interest
rate
fears
giving
traders
plenty
of
reason
to
sell
on
Tuesday.
BTC
hit
a
$59,100
low
in
the
afternoon
hours,
its
weakest
price
since
late
February
and
down
over
5%
over
the
past
24
hours.
The
broad-market
CoinDesk
20
Index
(CD20)
declined
even
more
during
the
same
period,
falling
6%
as
ether
(ETH),
solana
(SOL)
nursed
7%-8%
losses.
Bitcoin
now
lower
by
roughly
20%
from
its
all-time
high
above
$73,000
hit
in
mid-March.
Traditional
markets
struggled
as
well
after
a
spate
of
U.S.
economic
reports
Tuesday
morning
had
a
stagflationary
feel,
showing
slowing
growth
and
speedier
price
pressures.
The
Nasdaq
shed
2%
for
the
day,
while
the
S&P
500
fell
1.6%.
Recent
reports
showing
stronger
U.S.
economic
data
and
hotter
inflation
significantly
tapered
U.S.
Federal
Reserve
interest
rate
cut
expectations
and
that’s
weighing
on
the
digital
asset
market,
Joel
Kruger,
market
strategist
at
LMAX
Group,
pointed
out
in
a
Tuesday
report.
“We
continue
to
see
evidence
of
the
Fed
needing
to
be
leaning
back
to
a
higher
for
longer
policy
outlook,
despite
investor
calls
for
more
accommodation,”
Kruger
said.
“With
the
U.S.
dollar
coming
back
into
favor
across
the
board,
we
are
seeing
this
filter
over
into
crypto
assets
as
well.”
Worst
month
since
FTX
With
Tuesday’s
decline,
BTC
and
the
broader
crypto
market
are
on
track
to
snap
their
seven-month
winning
streak
with
their
worst
monthly
decline
since
November
2022,
when
crypto
exchange
FTX
imploded.
With
a
few
hours
left
from
the
last
day
of
the
month
(UTC
time),
bitcoin
is
down
over
16%
through
April,
and
ether
is
lower
by
18%..
Smaller
cryptocurrencies
suffered
an
even
deeper
correction,
with
altcoin
darlings
SOL,
dogecoin
(DOGE),
avalanche
(AVAX)
lower
by
35%-40%
this
month.
Overall,
the
total
crypto
market
capitalization
shed
nearly
18%
of
its
value,
recording
its
biggest
decline
since
June
2022,
TradingView
data
shows.
Bitcoin’s
decline
might
not
be
over
“I’m
expecting
a
sell-off
to
the
mid-to-low
$50,000
region
[for
BTC],
which
should
prove
to
be
a
buying
opportunity,”
said
John
Glover,
chief
investment
officer
of
crypto
lending
firm
Ledn.
Seasonal
effects
with
lower
interest
during
the
summer
months
also
point
towards
lower
prices,
K33
Research
noted.
“A
trader
opting
for
a
strategy
of
buying
BTC
on
the
May
open
and
closing
the
trade
on
the
September
close
would’ve
seen
a
cumulative
return
of
-29%
in
the
past
five
years,”
K33
analyst
Vetle
Lunde
said.
“Whereas
a
trader
buying
the
October
open
and
selling
during
the
April
close
would’ve
experienced
a
massive
1,449%
return.”
The
(not
so)
tepid
Hong
Kong
ETF
debut
The
first
day
of
Hong
Kong-listed
spot
bitcoin
and
ether
ETFs
failed
to
wow
market
participants
focusing
on
the
products
tepid,
just
over
$10
million
trading
volume.
The
debut,
however,
was
more
successful
than
at
first
impression
considering
that
the
Hong
Kong
ETF
market
is
only
a
fraction
of
the
U.S.
market
size,
Bloomberg
Intelligence
senior
ETF
Eric
Balchunas
analyst
pointed
out.
“If
you
localize
numbers,
this
was
big,”
Balchunas
said.
ChinaAMC’s
bitcoin
product
alone
gathered
over
$123
million
of
assets
in
its
first
trading
session,
making
it
the
sixth
best
ETF
launch
over
the
past
three
years
and
is
already
among
the
top
20%
largest
ETFs,
he
cited
Bloomberg
data.
Balchunas
also
added
that
the
Hong
Kong-listed
ETFs
arrived
at
a
“good
time”
and
could
help
offset
the
outflows
from
U.S.
products
that
have
slowed
down
recently.
