bitcoin Losses widened early Thursday, falling to $63,000 for the first time since Feb. 24. The cryptocurrency has lost more than 14% this week alone and 21% over the past four weeks, according to data from CoinDesk.
The sell-off has triggered demand for protective options, lifting the fear gauge, the BVIV 30-day implied volatility index, to 53.17, its highest level since April 2.
Investors withdrew another $50 million from U.S.-listed spot ETFs on Wednesday, marking the 13th consecutive day of capital outflows from these vehicles, which are seen as an indicator of institutional demand.
“A broad cryptocurrency sell-off, which began with the Strategy trade that triggered ETF outflows and is now driven by speculative news about the Mt. Gox liquidations, indicates a possible continued sell-off. BTC at $50,000 is a level that some are starting to talk about at least this year,” Paul Howard, senior director at liquidity provider Wincent, said in an email.
“Although there is a long way to go, the absence of catalysts and the movement of liquidity towards other technology sectors such as AI indicate that we have more volatility ahead,” he added.
Some traders are closely watching levels around $60,000 as potential support. The February drop saw prices almost test that level on some exchanges before the sell-off lost steam.
“The first major area I’m looking at is the low $60k region, because that’s where a lot of important pieces are starting to come together. We have the local low around $59.9k. We have the 200-week moving average now sitting in that same general area,” analysts at data tracking platform Material Indicators said in an email.
“That doesn’t guarantee support. It just tells us that this is where the market should make a decision,” they added.
