BitcoinThe crypto market saw a massive correction over the weekend, starting with a red Friday and followed by a Saturday massacre. Bitcoin had one of its worst weekends in a long time. However, it has managed to recover some ground and now trades slightly above $66,000.
While the reasons for the crash are still debatable, the fact is that the total crypto market cap shed over $400 billion at one point. Most altcoins fell even harder but have begun their recovery as markets open up.
Crypto markets recover from the bloodbath
With the next Bitcoin halving just around the corner, the question arises whether this was the last crypto market correction before the block production is reduced by another 50%.
So much can and has been said about what took place in the past 72 hours as the weekend rolled away. BTC was relatively calm on Friday morning, in a tight range between $70,000 and $71,000. Soon after came the latest Fed statements from a few branch Presidents claiming that the central bank has no intentions to reduce the interest rates anytime soon. All was thought to be good up to that point.
However, BTC, as well as most markets, reacted to the news immediately. The leading crypto coin fell by about $6K to $65K. Soon after BTC recovered some ground on Saturday to trade above $67K. However, the tension between Iran and Israel escalated fast with Iran launching drone missiles to Israel.
That single geopolitical instance drove BTC to lows not seen in the last month with the coin trading at $61K. The coin faced more volatility on Sunday, leaving hundreds of millions of dollars in liquidations. Some traders took their disappointments on X, some on the verge of suicide.
The start of this business week has been more positive amid promising ETF news coming from Hong Kong. At the time of writing, Bitcoin trades ar $66,332, a 2.6% increase since yesterday. However, that leaves BTC 7.9% lower compared to its value 7 days ago.
The second largest crypto coin, Ethereum, trades at $3,247 today, which is a 5.9% increase from yesterday. However, the value of ETH today is 9.9% down from a week ago.
Bitcoin halving is the talk of the crypto town
History has it that this is not BTC’s first such reaction amid escalating geopolitical tension between 2 countries. Memory archives show BTC and the crypto market fell hard over two years ago when Russia invaded Ukraine. According to Willy Woo, the crypto recovered almost all losses “within days.”
Alex Kruger stands ground that Bitcoin’s upcoming price movements are strongly tied to what Israel and Iran will do next. BTC could recover swiftly if the conflict is resolved, but he warned that “we are going much lower” if an all-out war breaks out. Some are on the rumors of WW111.
The market was not bad news to everyone. This market correction helped some savvy investors to strengthen their BTC stash. Lookonchain data shows that whales have been particularly active. One Whale withdrew nearly $40 million worth of BTC.
Bitcoin halving takes place at every 210,000 blocks, which is approximately 4 years and reduces the block production by 50%. The next one, which should be completed on April 19, though BTC halving calendars vary, will see the rewards decline to 3.125 BTC per block.
Once the production rate of a certain asset declines, its price should go up if the demand for it remains the same or increases. Perhaps this is why Bitcoin has headed north after each of the previous halvings and why the community anticipates upcoming bull runs as well.
Crypto markets have been battered over the past week but started to show signs of recovery during the Monday morning trading session in Asia. Markets will also focus on earnings, with this week’s releases spread between various economic sectors including banking and finance.
From Zero to Web3 Pro: Your 90-Day Career Launch Plan
