Hassan Maishera
TL;DR
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The Hong Kong Bitcoin ETF debut was a sell-the-news event, with BTC losing 5% of its value.
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Bitcoin recorded its first negative month since August 2023, losing more than 14% of its value in April.
Bitcoin Underperform as Hong Kong ETF Debuts
Many had anticipated Bitcoin to surge higher once the Hong Kong ETF launches. However, the reverse was the case as BTC underperformed on Tuesday, with altcoins also recording huge losses.
BTC is currently down by more than 5% in the last 24 hours and is currently trading at $60,208 per coin. With yesterday’s poor performance, Bitcoin recorded its first negative months since August 2023.
Bitcoin lost nearly 15% of its value in April as Bitcoin halving and the ETF launch in Hong Kong failed to spark a recovery for the world’s leading cryptocurrency by market cap.
The Hong Kong spot Bitcoin ETF amassed $12.4 million in trading volume during the first day, which is poor compared to the $4.6 billion recorded by spot Bitcoin ETFs in the United States on their debut.
Fed Decision Might Increase the Selling Pressure on Cryptos
The US Federal Reserve is expected to leave interest rates unchanged later today as high inflation levels continue to persist in the country. The decision is expected to increase the selling pressure on cryptocurrencies.
While speaking to Cryptowisser, Ruslan Lienkha, chief of markets, YouHodler said,
“The unchanged rate would not directly impact the crypto market anyway, but Powell's rhetoric may continue to spread a risk-off signal around markets that might intensify selling pressure in the crypto market. Gold growth from the beginning of the year is another signal that may force investors to be much more cautious regarding risk assets such as cryptos. Further inflation trajectory will define monetary policy and markets' behavior despite some positive internal pro-growth factors in the crypto industry.”
If the selling pressure increases, BTC might dip below the $60k level for the first time since February. The recent selloff saw the total cryptocurrency market cap dip by 5%, now at $2.22 trillion.
