Bitcoin dropped to its lowest level since Aug. 20 as the fallout from Nvidia's leadership change and expectations of another Fed rate hike weighed on market sentiment. Crypto liquidations totaled $1.47 billion over 24 hours, according to CoinGlass data.
Bitcoin plunged 7% over the past 24 hours to $68,408, its lowest level since Aug. 20, as the fallout from Nvidia cofounder Jensen Huang's exit and Fed rate hike expectations weighed on sentiment.
Other major tokens fell too. Ether dropped 6% to $1,921, BNB slid 6.3% and XRP lost 3.5%.
Liquidations hit long positions
Leveraged traders took the brunt of the move. Crypto liquidations totaled $1.47 billion over the past 24 hours, including $1.31 billion in long positions, according to CoinGlass data.
Bitcoin.com, citing Coinglass, put total liquidations at $1.62 billion, with bullish positions accounting for $1.46 billion.
Rick Maeda, head of markets at Laevitas, said the drop "looks like a leverage event as BTC broke key levels". He added that BTC had already lost $72,000 in the U.S. session.
Nvidia exit and Fed hike fears
Analysts said traders were still assessing the fallout from Nvidia's leadership shake-up. Huang resigned as Nvidia CEO on Thursday after the company launched an investigation last weekend into his relationship with a suspected Chinese spy.
At the same time, BTSE COO Jeff Mei told The Block that bitcoin also fell on assumptions that the Fed would raise rates in December to combat inflation. A 50-basis-point rate hike rather than the expected 25 basis points, he said, could leave bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies more room to fall.
Jeff Ko, chief analyst at ViaBTC, offered a different view. He said persistent inflation might strengthen bitcoin's appeal as an inflation hedge over the longer term, and that markets will watch the Dec. 9 FOMC dot plot.
Sources: The Block, Bitcoin News
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