Bitcoin fell to its lowest level since January as slumping equity markets continued to hurt cryptocurrencies, which are currently trading in line with so-called riskier assets like tech stocks.
Bitcoin dropped to as low as $33,266 in morning trade, testing the January low of $32,951. A fall below that level would be it lowest since July last year.
It then steadied to trade around $33,500, down 1.4%.
“I think everything within crypto is still classed as a risk asset, and similar to what we’ve seen with the Nasdaq, most cryptocurrencies are getting pummelled,” said Matt Dibb, COO of Singapore-based crypto platform Stack Funds
The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 1.5% last week and has lost 22% year to date, hurt by the prospect of persistent inflation forcing the US Federal Reserve to hike rates despite slowing growth. Nasdaq futures were down a further 0.8% in Asia trade on Monday morning.
Dibb said other factors in the decline over the weekend – bitcoin closed on Friday at around $36,000 — were the crypto market’s notoriously low liquidity over the weekends, and also short-lived fears that an algorithmic stable coin called Terra USD (UST) could lose its peg to the dollar.
