Bitcoin hurdles towards 200 DMA ahead of NFP
- BTC/USD drops like a stone towards 200 DMA.
- Bears in the market as crypto takes a plunge on regulatory turmoil ahead of US NFP.
Bitcoin BTC/USD dropped like a stone on Thursday in an 8% decline while increased odds of further interest rate increases by the Federal Reserve and regulatory pressure in cryptocurrencies are being priced into the cryptocurrency. BTC/USD fell from a high of 21,824 to a low of 20,043 and is currently trading at 20,368 at the time of writing.
Reuters reported that the shares of crypto-focused companies fell on Thursday after Silvergate Capital disclosed plans to wind down operations and voluntarily liquidate, as the aftermath of FTX's implosion last year reverberates through the industry.
''Shares in Silvergate plunged more than 35% to $3.17, a day after hitting a record low and have lost 64% since March 1 when the company flagged a going concern risk. Analysts said a complete closure of the crypto lender could take one or two years depending on how quickly outstanding loans are repaid and assets are disposed of.''
Meanwhile, Wall Street fell on Thursday, with bank stocks weighing on all three major stock indexes down as markets worried that the Nonfarm Payrolls on Friday could spur aggressive interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.
''Likely a binary event,'' analysts at TD Securities said with regard to the jobs data.
''USD positioning leans decently long but not skewed. USD's correlation with the Fed futures curve is almost exclusively tied to terminal/2023 pricing, which may be reasonably priced ahead of the Consumer Price Index next week,'' the analysts added.
''That introduces some asymmetry to the USD (i.e. downside) on a soft print. But we think the hurdle is rather high to see USD weakness prevail; data would have to materially surprise to the downside. Barring that, USD dips likely to find some demand.''
BTC/USD technical analysis
The bears are in and eye a test of the 200 DMA.