Bitcoin halving likely this week: Here’s what to expect
This technical event happens every four years. It is when the rewards for Bitcoin miners are cut in half.
Amid the Iran-Israel war, the largest cryptocurrency – Bitcoin – slid 7.7 per cent marking the biggest such retreat since March 2023.
Most other major coins, such as Ether, Solana, and meme-crowd favourite Dogecoin incurred 24-hour losses. According to CoinGecko, major digital assets saw similar falls over the past 24 hours, including ether (ETH), which fell 7 per cent to just under $3,000, BNB (BNB) (down 9 per cent), and Solana (SOL) (down 12 per cent).
Experts believe the continuation of the crypto selloff is probably contingent on further escalation, and people will look for what markets will look like on Monday.
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According to Coinglass data, about $1.5 billion of bullish crypto wagers via derivatives were liquidated on Friday and Saturday, one of the heaviest two-day liquidations in at least six months.
Notably, Bitcoin is down about $10,000 from a mid-March record of $73,798. Demand for dedicated US exchange-traded funds that debuted in January helped the token reach an all-time high, but net inflows into the products have moderated lately.
The decentralised finance (DeFi) sector has been hit particularly hard as a result of the market chaos, with depressed prices forcing liquidations and raising the potential of havoc for some protocols
Iran launched attack drones and missiles against Israel in apparent retaliation for a strike in Syria that killed top Iranian military officers.
Notably, the coming week will be crucial for the market as any significant escalation in tensions could trigger panic selling and volatility in global equity markets. Movements in US bond yields and the dollar index will be important factors influencing market sentiment.
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