Not only has billions of dollars been wiped off the total market cap of all cryptocurrencies, but more than $300 million has been stolen as a result of two audacious hacks.
The biggest, best crypto news ever
But first — subscribe to our newsletter here.
Listen to the CoinMarketRecap podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts
Bitcoin plunges to $42,000 😱
This wasn't meant to happen. A terrifying plunge rattled the crypto markets over the weekend. Bitcoin, which had managed to hit $57,000 on Friday, began to grind downward in the evening — dipping below $53,000 at one point. Some analysts on Twitter confidently declared that the bottom was in, but fresh misery was to follow. In the early hours of Saturday morning, it took less than an hour for BTC to fall by a staggering 18% — hitting lows of $42,874.62. Panic spread to altcoins, too.
Outlook gloomy, but what next? 💔
Analysts now think $50,000 is likely to remain as a stubborn level of resistance "for a decent amount of time now." One of them, flibflib, tweeted: "Moon mission is not dead but some will think cycle over." Michaël van de Poppe went one further — and described current sentiment in the market as "literally comparable to a funeral." Levels of resistance are currently set between $52,000 and $53,000 — and beyond that, the next challenge for bulls stands between $57,000 and $58,000. Worst to come?
El Salvador buys the dip… again 👀
As is tradition when Bitcoin slumps, El Salvador has "bought the dip." On Twitter, President Nayib Bukele declared that the Central American country has snapped up another 150 BTC. Its latest purchase commanded an average price of $48,670, and followed BTC's stomach-churning plunge on Saturday. But it was a bittersweet acquisition for Bukele, who added: "Missed the f***ing bottom by seven minutes." Being a little quicker would have brought $900,000 in gains. Now, a row's broken out.
'Bitcoin City' thrown into doubt 🚨
Meanwhile, a prominent environmentalist has cast doubt on El Salvador's plans to build Bitcoin City. The metropolis is set to be based at the bottom of a volcano and run on geothermal energy. But Ricardo Navarro says: "Talking about building this city beside a volcano is like thinking you are rich because you live next to a bank. Geothermal energy doesn’t need volcanoes. It needs groundwater, steam. But we already have problems with not enough water in El Salvador." Read more here.
$300m stolen in two big hacks ❌
BitMart has fallen victim to a "large-scale security breach" — revealing cybercriminals stole $150 million. The trading platform's CEO says the hack was caused by a "stolen" private key. It comes days after $120 million was stolen from BadgerDAO. The DeFi protocol is appealing to the hacker to come forward, telling them: "You have taken funds that do not belong to you but we are willing to work with you and compensate you for identifying this vulnerability in the systems." The latest.
