That's one way to ruin a barbecue.
While millions of Americans were celebrating July 4 by cooking up hot dogs and hamburgers, bitcoin was getting burned to a fare-thee-well, tumbling to its lowest point in months.
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The world's largest cryptocurrency fell as much as 8.1% to the lowest since February and traded around $55,561 at last check.
Cryptocurrencies fell broadly even as stock markets advanced, highlighting the volatility of the sector and the array of challenges facing the industry.
TheStreet Pro's Guilfoyle: 'liquidation event' in bitcoin
“The $51,000-$52,000 range is crucial as a lot of bitcoin miners are reaching their break-even point for profitable mining,” Le Shi, head of trading at market making and algorithmic trading firm Auros, told Bloomberg.
Bitcoin is now down about 25% from its March record, as the buzz around U.S. exchange-traded funds investing directly in the token gives way to fears of higher-for-longer interest rates and political uncertainty.
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TheStreet Pro's Stephen Guilfoyle described bitcoin's fall as "a liquidation event."
"The selloff appears to be for some reason and not because bitcoin and crypto enthusiasts have lost faith," he said.
Mt. Gox, a bitcoin exchange based in Tokyo. was handling was handling more than 70% of all bitcoin buys and sells worldwide by early 2014. At that point it abruptly ceased operations amid revelations of its involvement in the loss and theft of hundreds of thousands of bitcoins, then worth hundreds of millions in U.S. dollars.
"Approximately a month back, long-bankrupt crypto exchange Mt. Gox had announced that it would start repaying creditors in July and that those payments would be made in bitcoin and bitcoin cash," Guilfoyle said
In addition, German authorities are reportedly preparing to sell some of the 50,000 bitcoin they seized earlier from online criminals.
Joana Cotar, a German lawmaker and bitcoin activist, urged the government to stop its “hasty” bitcoin selling spree and adopt it as a “strategic reserve currency” to shield against risks in the traditional system, Cointelegraph reported.
Cotar said bitcoin could help Germany diversify its treasury assets, hedge against inflation and currency devaluation, and promote innovation in the country.
Crypto-data provider sees bitcoin break to upside
"The first half of 2024 has arguably been one of the most significant periods in the industry's history," CCData, a cryptocurrency market data provider, said in a recent report. "Bitcoin received stamp of approval from the [U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission], followed by the launch of these spot bitcoin ETFs in the U.S., which have accumulated over 55 billion in net assets as of June.."
In January the SEC cleared some investment companies to offer spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds.
CCData said bitcoin hadn’t yet reached the top of its current appreciation cycle and is likely to hit a new all-time high.
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"The influx of institutional capital is poised to attract retail investors who were previously disheartened by the market downturns and high profile collapses such as FTX and Terra," the firm said.
CCData said recent forays of major entities like the trading platform Robinhood (HOOD) and Sony (SONY) into centralized exchanges highlight growing institutional interest, signaling a positive shift as the asset class matures into a viable alternative investment.
Robinhood, the trading platform at the center of the 2021 GameStop (GME) meme stock frenzy, is reportedly eyeing crypto futures in America and Europe with its impending $200 million acquisition of Bitstamp.
The firm hopes to complete its acquisition of rival crypto exchange Bitstamp, among the world’s longest-running crypto platforms, by next year. Doing so would give it access to Bitstamp’s licenses for crypto futures, and also enable it to launch CME-based futures of bitcoin and Ethereum in America.
Earlier this year, Robinhood also acquired Marex FCM, a firm possessing U.S. futures licenses.
In May, the SEC warned Robinhood of imminent regulatory action with a Wells Notice, hinting that a civil enforcement action may soon be on the horizon.
Reuters reported that Robinhood Crypto enables customers to deposit and withdraw cryptocurrencies to and from its custodial platform and routes customer orders to liquidity providers. The company for nearly two years has been trying to register with the SEC, the news service reported.
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