Crypto market plummets, loses BRL 1.2 trillion and bitcoin falls to its lowest price since 2020

Crypto market capitalization has not been below $1 trillion since December 2020; loan service and brokerage freeze withdrawals

The cryptocurrency market starts this Monday, the 13th, with a series of losses. While major coins are down in the double digits, their capitalization is below $1 trillion for the first time since December 2020, according to data from CoinMarketCap. In total, approximately R$1.2 trillion (or US$250 billion) left the market.

The price of bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, has dropped 13.1% in the last 24 hours and hits its lowest since the same time, according to data from CoinGecko. One possible reason for the cryptocurrency’s selling pressure is the Celsius blockchain lending service.

Celsius on Monday announced a halt to looting, citing “extreme market conditions”. The company announced that it would also pause its exchange and transfer products, according to one publication, without providing a timeline for resuming withdrawals.

“We are working with a singular focus: protecting and preserving assets to fulfill our obligations to clients. Our ultimate goal is to stabilize liquidity and restore withdrawals, exchanges and transfers between accounts as quickly as possible. There is a lot of work ahead as we consider several options, this process will take time and there may be delays,” Celsius said.

In addition, the largest cryptocurrency exchange by market cap also had to freeze bitcoin withdrawals this Monday, the 13th. Known as “CZ”, the Binance CEO announced on his official Twitter account that the exchange would be freezing withdrawals. for “approximately 30 minutes”. However, later the CEO warned that the time could be a little longer than expected.

“Temporary pause in bitcoin withdrawals on Binance, due to a stuck transaction causing a backlog. This should be resolved in approximately 30 minutes, I’ll update you,” posted CZ, who later added:

“This is only impacting the Bitcoin network. You can still withdraw bitcoin on other networks like BEP-20. This might take a little longer to fix than I estimated. I update you soon. Thank you for understanding.”

Speaking of “extreme market conditions,” investor sentiment remains at “extreme fear,” according to the Fear and Greed Index. The metric, which had been rising in recent weeks, dropped back to 11.

The Fear and Greed Index works as follows: the lower the number, the greater the fear, and the higher the number, the greater the greed of investors. It can be used to assist in decisions when making an investment in cryptocurrencies.

Following bitcoin, ether has plummeted 15% in the last 24 hours, according to CoinGecko. The second largest cryptocurrency in the world is priced at $1,232 at press time. Solana, Avalanche and Polygon also show significant drops, of 15.5%, 14% and 17%, respectively.

Source: Exam