Bitcoin dips 5.7% in biggest one-day decline in last two weeks

Crypto market overview: Bitcoin, on Tuesday, experienced its biggest one-day decline in two weeks, dropping by 5.7 per cent amidst a broader sell-off in cryptocurrencies and other risk assets like stocks. 

The price of Bitcoin hit a two-week low of $63,800 before settling above $64,000 marking a 5.82 per cent decline in the price in the last 24 hours. On the other hand, Ether also fell by 7.7 per cent to $3,344. 

Despite this drop, Bitcoin has seen a 52 per cent increase year-to-date, driven partly by investor interest in US exchange-traded funds backed by spot Bitcoin.

The Crypto Fear and Greed Index reached 79 points after a two-point decline yesterday, however, despite the strong bearish moment the index has shown positive movement. 

Crypto Fear and Greed Index | Image credit: Alternative.me

While talking to Republic Business, the CoinDCX Research Team credited the market’s bearish trend to BTC testing its Exponential Moving Average (EMA) Daily support of 20 points, forming lower lows in smaller timeframes. The Exchange believes that a slip below this support could indicate a slight correction. Underlining the stronger price action in ETH, CoinDCX said, “ETH is hovering near major support levels, just above $3,375, with additional support from the 200 EMA 4H, suggesting strong support. Additionally, the ETH/BTC pair is at a major support level, while BTC dominance is at a resistance level, indicating the potential for ETH and altcoins to start pumping and outperforming BTC in the coming days.”

Highlighting Bitcoin’s continuous declining movement amidst larger optimism in the market, Rajagopal Menon, Vice President, WazirX said, “Analysts project this as a healthy consolidation where the retail market is largely following the movement of tokens. Ethereum’s latest upgrade has managed to lower its gas fee, however, it did not have the intended positive effect on its price.” 

“The price of the top token by market capitalisation can be expected to go further down in price, in alignment with its pre-halving retracement as it enters what is popularly called ‘the danger zone’. However, the halving is set to alter the course,” added Menon. 

A lot of selling pressure has been seen in the market ever since BTC hit its all-time high at $73,800 last week. CoinSwitch Markets Desk underlines that such corrections are always good for the market as they give the market more space to sustainably bounce back and go higher.

Market participants should closely track the $64,700 level as Edul Patel, CEO of Mudrex suggests that it stands as a crucial threshold. Patel said that a breach below this level might potentially push Bitcoin towards the $62,000 to $64,000 range. 

Sudeep Saxena, Co-Founder, CoinGabbar said, “Bitcoin teeters on the edge of the "Danger Zone" as the Federal Reserve FOMC readies to reveal its interest rate verdict on March 20, alongside Chairman Powell's speech. Presently, CME indicates a 99 per cent probability of interest rates maintaining stability. Additionally, several nations including Switzerland, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Japan, among others, are set to announce their interest rate decisions this week.” 

The fall in Bitcoin dominance usually coincides with an altcoin rally led by ETH said, Shivam Thakral, CEO of BuyUcoin. Thakral believes that the FOMC meeting is expected to see no change in rate hikes but the volatility is still expected from Jerome Powell's upcoming press conference.