After bulls failed for so long to hold $42,000, Bitcoin ( BTC), succumbed to macro pressures on March 4.
BTC/USD 1-hour candle charts (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView
Europe’s stocks fall on Friday open
Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro, and tradingView revealed that BTC/USD reached a low of $40,000. Bitstamp Friday following a major option expiry.
Even though overnight performance initially showed a recovery, it was hampered by concerns about a possible nuclear plant fire in Ukraine.
Stock futures plunged on the news. The severity of the fall was later questioned.
The DAX index in Germany fell to a record one year ago at the daily open. However, trading for the S&P 500 has not yet begun.
Holger Zschaepitz , market commentator, noted that index has fallen 17% from its recent high. This is a lot more than S&P 500.
“Investors are abandoning Europe as the risk for stagflation rises.” This is yet another failure of Europe’s comeback.
Europe was also focused on commodities, with gas prices reaching new heights on March 3rd. Inflation was also a concern.
Evidently, inflation data is no longer relevant for central-bank prognostications on policy. Data released this morning showed that the Italian inflation rose to an all-time high of 6.2% in February, compared to the median estimate of 5.5.%. But 2-year Italian yields continue to fall. pic.twitter.com/8I4ZcTaSh4
— Lisa Abramowicz (@lisaabramowicz1)
March 1, 2022
With some trepidation, a cautious Crypto Ed presented the Bitcoin near-term outlook.
“So, you really need the 5th leg. For the possibility of that fifth leg ….., a deeper drop is bad news. We can avoid the bullish vibes, especially when we lose 40k again, and instead look for shorts,” he advised.
“Bullish above 42k, bearish below 40k.”
There is no stopping short-term altcoin performance
Altcoins suffered from Bitcoin’s continued decline, with the attention of Ether ( ETH) as well as its trend vs. BTC.
Similar: Bitcoin is a good bet if Fed keeps easing to avoid a slump — Analyst
ETH/BTC 1-hour candle chart (Bitstamp). Source: TradingView
already struggling, sentiment took another hit when it was announced that Metamask was planning to block ETH transactions to Venezuela to comply with government regulations.
“By default MetaMask connects to the blockchain via Infura which is unavailable in some jurisdictions due legal compliance,” a blog announcement Thursday.
Solana ( SOL), who led the top ten cryptocurrencies in market cap, was also responsible for daily losses. SOL/USD fell nearly 7%.
