Key Takeaways
- The market capitalization for crypto fell by around 12% in the last 24 hours to nearly $970 billion.
- Bitcoin has tumbled over 10% to $24,548, lowest in 18 months.
- Hodlnaut has informed users of facing delays in BTC withdrawal.
- Analysts believe the crypto slump is owing to investors engaging in massive sell-off amidst increasing inflation rates.
Financial Institutions are now facing withdrawal delays as cryptocurrency is going through one of biggest slumps since its inception. Singapore-based Financial firm Hodlnaut had informed users of withdrawal delays on BTC, citing “server lockdown” with its Wallet Service Provider, Fireblocks. Apart from Hodlnaut, digital asset firm Nexo’s users have also claimed to have been facing withdrawal delays.
On Monday, lending platform Celsius halted withdrawals citing “extreme market conditions” against the backdrop of rumors of its slump towards insolvency. Before the announcement, Celsius is alleged to have withdrawn roughly $250 million from decentralized finance protocol Aave and sent it to the FTX exchange. The delays in withdrawal come amid increasingly volatile market conditions. According to CoinGecko, Celsius’s CEL token also sank 53% to 18 cents on Monday morning in Hong Kong
Current Market Conditions
The Crypto market has been witnessing one slump after another in the recent few months. The market is facing bearish triggers on multiple fronts, coming from both within and beyond the crypto sphere.
According to recent data, the market capitalization for cryptocurrencies fell by around 12% in the last 24 hours to nearly $970 billion on Monday. The global cryptocurrency market cap currently is $1.08 trillion, down more than 8% in the last 24 hours. Bitcoin has tumbled over 10% to $24,548, lowest in 18 months. Bitcoin has declined for twelve straight weeks, marking one of the asset’s biggest dump in its lifetime. The most popular digital token is now trading far below its record high of $69,000 it had hit in November 2021.
Bitcoin altcoins has also been severely affected by the slump. For example, Ethereum’s prices has been bleeding since the past few days. Ethereum has fallen to its lowest level in over 14 months, currently trading at around $1350, which was last seen in January 2021. Solana has also fallen by almost 30% and is hovering around the $29 mark.
What is causing the Slump?
According to the Friday released May Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, inflation rose 8.6% in May compared to 2021, the highest increase since December 1981. The heightened inflation fears have paved the way for investors to be increasingly wary of risky assets. As investors continue to stay away from riskier assets, it is also reflecting heavily in the stock markets.
The CPI report has reportedly incentivized investors to engage in massive sell-off triggering the crypto crash. Cryptocurrency prices have been in a slump right from 2022 beginning as the Federal Reserve withdraws stimulus and hikes rates to combat Inflation. Analysts believe panicking investors will keep the number of crypto liquidations high for some while.
The market is expected to remain choppy in the coming few weeks as countries around the globe continue to report high inflation numbers. The current dip in the crypto prices will, however provide more avenues for experienced investors to buy crypto at 2021 prices, therefore, take advantage of the slump.
