Traditional markets from the U.S. to Japan saw declines across major indexes, affecting stocks and cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin (BTC) reversed losses during Asian morning hours on Friday as global asset sell-offs continued, worsened by Middle East geopolitical tensions.
Bitcoin’s Volatile Ride
Bitcoin’s Recent Performance
BTC slumped to $62,500 during late U.S. trading on Thursday. It reversed losses and traded just under $64,000 at 6:30 UTC, near its 50-day moving average, a key support line for traders. FxPro senior market analyst Alex Kuptsikevich noted, “If the decline continues, the $63K and $61K levels, near the 50 and 200-day moving averages, will be crucial. Failing this support could lead to a drop to $55K, which is concerning.”
Historical Trends
Kuptsikevich added, “August is one of the worst months for BTC. In the past 13 years, Bitcoin ended August up only five times and down eight times, with an average decline of 15.4% and an average rise of 26%.”
Crypto Market Trends
Impact on Major Cryptos
Major cryptocurrencies fell in the past 24 hours amid global equity weakness. Ether (ETH) lost 1.6%, while XRP and Solana’s SOL dropped as much as 8%. This broad sell-off impacted Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as well.
ETFs Performance
U.S.-listed BTC ETFs saw a total daily net inflow of $50.6 million, but funds like GBTC, FBTC, ARKB, BITB, and HODL experienced outflows. Meanwhile, Ether ETFs posted a net inflow of $26.75 million, although many had zero flow.
Broader Market Impact
Global Index Declines
The technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 ended Thursday with a 2.6% loss, and the S&P 500 Index fell 1.4%, erasing nearly all of Wednesday’s gains. Concerns about the U.S. economy and future earnings of tech firms contributed to these declines. In Japan, the Topix index dropped 6% on Friday, marking its biggest fall since 2016.
Microstrategy’s Performance
Presto Research highlighted Microstrategy’s (MSTR) standout performance in Q2 2024, with a 3.7% BTC per share increase due to “intelligent leverage,” a planned $2 billion equity offering for BTC purchases, and the adoption of fair-value accounting for BTC by Q1 2025. Year-to-date, MSTR is up 118%, while BTC is up 45%, according to data.
