[SINGAPORE] After a week-long rout that erased hundreds of billions in digital-asset value, Bitcoin has again failed to live up to its billing as a safe harbour asset.
Once cast as a hedge against market turmoil, a “digital gold” for the blockchain age, the original cryptocurrency continued its slide on Friday (Oct 17), dropping as much as 4 per cent to US$103,550, the lowest level since June. Ether, the second-largest token, slipped under US$3,700 and has now retreated around 25 per cent from its August peak.
The total value of the crypto market has shrunk by over US$600 billion since last Friday, data compiled by CoinGecko shows.
Meanwhile, the Binance-linked token BNB tumbled as much as 11 per cent on Friday, before parings its slide. The world’s largest crypto exchange was cited by analysts as a key driver of the record spree of liquidations on Oct 10 and 11, as users encountered technical glitches and price discrepancies. Binance has offered customers and businesses nearly US$600 million in compensation following the crash.
The fall in BNB on Friday “seems in line with the larger market sell-off for now”, said Yoann Turpin, co-founder of crypto market maker Wintermute. The activity is also likely a sign of repricing, Turpin said, after a surge mid-week failed to form a lasting recovery.
Bitcoin set an all-time high of US$126,251 on Oct 6. Days later, more than US$19 billion in liquidations sparked by escalating US-China trade tensions coincided with a sharp sell-off that encompassed most major tokens. About US$1.2 billion in leveraged positions are liquidated over the past 24 hours, according to Coinglass data, far below last week’s total, but underscoring that leverage remains elevated in a fragile market.
Heavyweights including Kraken, Circle, BitGo and Ripple are pushing deeper into regulated finance – seeking trust charters, payment rails and card products.
“What’s striking is the timing of the crash coinciding with major players pursuing banking licenses,” said Rachael Lucas, analyst at BTC Markets. The pivot to traditional financial infrastructure “signals a strategic hedge against volatility, aiming to build legitimacy”, she added.
Risks stemming from the US and China sparring over trade continue to plague risk assets beyond crypto.
The collapses of First Brands Group and Tricolor Holdings have revived anxiety over hidden credit losses, while fraud-linked write-downs at Zions Bancorp and Western Alliance wiped more than US$100 billion from US bank market value in a single day.
Investors withdrew a net US$593 million from US-listed Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded funds on Thursday as risk-off sentiment swept through markets. The put-to-call ratio for Bitcoin on the crypto derivatives platform Deribit rose to 1.33 over the past 24 hours, signalling increased hedging against further price declines. Put options provide downside protection by giving holders the right to sell an asset at a predetermined price.
“Derivatives are where stress is concentrated,” Timothy Misir, head of research at digital asset analytics firm BRN, said in a note. “Dealers are buying protection; that raises the cost of short-term downside insurance and increases the chance of violent two-way moves.”
With longstanding havens such as gold and silver continuing to hit fresh highs, Bitcoin has disappointed. It fell as much as 6.3 per cent in the week to Oct 12, the most since early March and has not yet bounced back. The same is true of most cryptocurrencies.
“More than anything, I think crypto is acting like a canary in the coal mine, suggesting the market is on edge because of emerging credit worries,” said Matthew Hougan, chief investment officer at Bitwise. BLOOMBERG
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