The reason for the decline in Bitcoin and altcoins has been revealed: Market-shaking news
While everything seemed to be going well with Bitcoin, sharp declines in the evening dragged the price down to the $68,000 level. What was behind the drop?
Today, Bitcoin touched $72,000, but things took a turn for the worse in the evening. The decline deepened in the following hours, and the price dropped to $68,400.
Why is Bitcoin falling?
The reason for Bitcoin’s decline is the U.S. non-farm payroll data released today, which exceeded expectations. The data, announced at 3:30 PM, reported a 272,000 increase in employment in May, while the expectation was 182,000.
The significant rise in employment dashed hopes that the Fed might cut interest rates in July and led to an appreciation of the dollar. Additionally, markets are now pricing in a 45% chance of a rate cut in September, down from 56% before the employment data was released.
Meanwhile, sales in some cryptocurrencies deepened with a YouTube live stream by GameStop phenomenon Roaring Kitty. The phenomenon, who was watched live by more than 600,000 people, did not make any sensational announcements or statements as expected. As a result, GameStop shares lost more than 40% of their value. The meme coin GME, named after the same stock, fell by more than 50%, and many other meme coins also suffered double-digit losses.
Finally, the drop in Bitcoin led to $400 million worth of leveraged positions being closed at a loss. According to Coinglass, the number of users incurring losses in the derivatives market approached 150,000.
