The cryptocurrency market has been in freefall for the past few weeks. According to the website CoinGecko, bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) are down 8.1% and 12.4% in the last seven days, respectively.
Other major cryptocurrencies such as solana (SOL) and dogecoin (DOGE) are also in the red, plummeting 16.1% and 10.9% over the last week, respectively.
Along with major cryptocurrencies, companies that bet heavily on crypto are also suffering.
MicroStrategy, which has more than $5 billion in bitcoin and is led by bitcoin advocate Michael Saylor, has fallen. almost 3% at the close of market on Thursday (20) and, this Friday (21), accumulates a fall of 9%.
Similarly, the Block company (led by Jack Dorsey and formerly known as Square) fell 0,44% on Thursday and registers a fall of 2.7% this Friday. Recently, the company announced its intention to enter the bitcoin mining industry.
PayPal, which made headlines in November 2020 by announcing that all American account holders could buy and sell cryptocurrencies on its platform, is also in the red, having fallen. 0,16% on Thursday and down 2.6% this Friday.
However, crypto exchange Coinbase suffered the biggest drop: 10,2%, even though it rose 1% on Thursday.
Tesla, the electric vehicle maker that has bitcoin on its balance sheet, had also risen. 0,62% the previous day, but fell 1.4%. Recently, the company has also started accepting payments in dogecoin (DOGE) for its branded products.
Traditional markets plummet
A similar downtrend exists in the traditional markets of the world.
The Nasdaq 100, a stock market index made up of the largest non-financial companies listed on Nasdaq, fell 1,3% at market close.
Two months ago, the Nasdaq 100 had broken a record but has since fallen by more than 10% — a drop that coincided with early reports of the omicron variant of covid-19.
The S&P 500, which tracks the performance of the top 500 companies listed on US stock exchanges, also dropped more than 1%.
What does this mean for the crypto market?
The latest crypto market crash offers further evidence that the market is not immune to moves outside of it.
When the omicron variant startled markets in November, bitcoin and ether dropped from $58,700 and $4,400 to $54,595 and $4,109, respectively.
This year, unrest in Kazakhstan and speculation of an interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve has pushed cryptocurrency prices further down. Between January 1st and 10th, 2022, bitcoin dropped 14%:
In contrast, ether has dropped below $3k, the level last recorded in September 2021.
*Translated and edited by Daniela Pereira do Nascimento with permission from the Decrypt.co.
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