Bitcoin slid another 3% this morning, dipping below $104,000 as the first ‘Red October’ since 2018 casts a shadow over crypto.
The October 10 crash, which liquidated some $20 billion in leveraged positions, continues to haunt investors, analysts say.
Gabriel Selby, head of research at CF Benchmarks, told DL News that the event “left a lot of price inefficiencies that meant another correction near term was somewhat inevitable.”
The ongoing sell pressure comes at a tense moment for risk assets. Traders are grappling with the unresolved US government shutdown, geopolitical jitters, and the looming Federal Reserve meeting in December.
And it is not just crypto traders that are feeling jittery. Wall Street executives warn investors of an inbound equity market drawdown that is set to pull down markets by more than 10% over the next year or so, Bloomberg reports.
Big sells
US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds posted another $187 million in losses yesterday, adding to nearly $800 million in selling last week, according to DefiLlama data.
Popular onchain analytics account Lookonchain noted yesterday that long-term holders have begun unloading in size, noting $1.5 billion in deposits from legacy wallets to major exchanges including Coinbase, Binance, and Kraken.
One high-profile whale moved $365 million worth of Bitcoin to Kraken, a typical signal of locking in profits or hedging.
The past 24 hours saw over $1.3 billion liquidated across the crypto market, according to data from CoinGlass.
Macro picture
Market focus is now turning to the Federal Open Market Committee meeting in December.
The CME FedWatch tool currently places the odds of another rate cut at 67%, but analysts warn that uncertainty could weigh on the big decision to further slash rates.
“There’s ongoing pressure on the macro side, with the shutdown still unresolved and insufficient data for the Fed to base its next decision on,” Nic Puckrin, co-founder of The Coin Bureau, told DL News.
“We’re in for a choppy November.”
To be sure, it’s not all doom and gloom.
After the correction, “the market could be better positioned for a better run higher moving forward,” Selby added.
Shawn Young, chief analyst of MEXC Research, told DL News that “despite the end of the ‘Red October’ period, market sentiment remains cautiously optimistic.”
