In the past 24 hours, the world’s largest cryptocurrency climbed 0.5% to $65,920.0 by 07:33 ET (11:33 GMT).
A broader decline in risk appetite- marked by a sharp fall in global stock markets- also pressured Bitcoin, as investors pivoted into safe havens such as the dollar and gold.
The greenback raced to a 4-½ month high this week, while gold prices notched record highs.
Risk appetite- particularly in Asian markets- was also dented by a devastating earthquake in Taiwan, the impact of which remained unclear. But this kept Asian stocks trading negative, while the dollar stemmed a decline from recent peaks.
A potential mass sale event also kept Bitcoin investors on edge, especially as the U.S. government was seen mobilizing part of the 30.1K Bitcoins ($2.1 billion) recovered from the Silk Road marketplace.
Crypto influencer ZachXBT noted on social media platform X that an address associated with the U.S. government had moved $139 million of Bitcoin to a Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) deposit address.
A move onto an exchange could herald a potential sale of the tokens on the open market, presenting some sell-side pressure on Bitcoin. Past crypto seizures by the U.S. government have usually resulted in the government auctioning off the seized tokens.
Bitcoin’s strong price run-up this year- where the token hit a new record high was driven chiefly by the U.S. approval of spot exchange-traded funds.
In March, these funds witnessed a significant surge in trading volume, reaching over $110 billion—tripling the trading volumes seen in January and February—as Bitcoin’s value reached new heights.
BlackRock (NYSE:BLK)’s IBIT led the charge, accounting for nearly half of the month’s total trading volume, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Eric Balchunas. Close behind, Grayscale’s GBTC captured 20% of the market share, with Fidelity’s FBTC contributing to 17%.
“$IBIT won the volume race and is officially the $GLD of bitcoin,” said Balchunas, referring to the largest gold ETF, SPDR Gold Trust (P:GLD (NYSE:GLD)).
“I can’t imagine April will be bigger but who knows,” he added.
Following their approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in January, U.S. Bitcoin ETFs began trading on January 12. At the time, Bitcoin was priced around $45,000.
The cryptocurrency’s price has since staged a strong rally, soaring to a new all-time high of $73,000 last month.
But capital inflows into these ETFs were seen slowing in recent weeks, a trend that could potentially herald more weakness in Bitcoin prices.
The prospect of higher-for-longer U.S. interest rates also presents more headwinds for Bitcoin, given that the token usually benefits from a high-liquidity, high-speculation environment.
Source: Cryptocurrency - investing.com
