Bitcoin falls under $85,000

The world’s first cryptocurrency Bitcoin (BTC) lost over 4% of its value, falling below the $85,000.

Market data shows that Bitcoin touched a low of under $82,250 today, before recovering to its current price of just over $85,750. Talking to industry news outlet The Block, analysts at Presto Research pointed out that this was the largest four-day drop since August.

Presto Research head of research Peter Chung noted that $1 billion record outflows from United States spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) reported on the previous day points to institutions closing out on basis trades. He noted:

“BTC plunge deepens as basis trade unwinds.”

A basis trade is an arbitrage strategy that profits from the price difference between an asset’s spot price and its futures price. The trader bets that the gap (or basis) will eventually converge. Chung explained:

“So far, the annualized basis on CME (and Binance) shows no signs of rebounding. […] A potential source of relief is the funding rate, which is starting to roll over following weak macro data (e.g., last night’s Jan. new home sales at 657K vs. 734K expected).”

CoinMarketCap’s global charts show that the overall crypto market saw a major capital exodus. The crypto total market cap went from $2.93 trillion yesterday to its current value of $2.82 trillion — translating to a loss of $110 billion in a single day.

The Crypto Fear & Greed Index, a multifactorial measure of crypto market sentiment currently indicates a level described as “extreme fear.” The Crypto Fear & Greed Index stands at  10, indicating that the crypto market is now overrun by fear.

In such cases, the instrument is being interpreted as a warning of a possible imminent price increases — but no instrument can guarantee any kind of market performance. The website reads:

“Extreme fear can be a sign that investors are too worried. That could be a buying opportunity.”

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