Bitcoin Falls Further as S&P 500 Confirms Bear Market, MicroStrategy at Risk of Margin Calls
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Bitcoin Falls Further as S&P 500 Confirms Bear Market, MicroStrategy at Risk of Margin Calls

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Created 1yr ago, last updated 1yr ago

While CoinMarketCap's data shows there's little to cheer about — with the market cap of all cryptocurrencies now below $1 trillion — Bitcoin did rebound after reaching depths of $20,950.82.

Bitcoin Falls Further as S&P 500 Confirms Bear Market, MicroStrategy at Risk of Margin Calls

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Bitcoin slid to lows of $20,950 in the early hours of Tuesday morning — hours after the S&P 500 officially confirmed a bear market.

Things went from bad to worse for the world's biggest cryptocurrency during Asia trading hours, when sell-offs have been especially pronounced of late.

The brief dip to $21,000 also put MicroStrategy in danger of facing a margin call on a $205 million loan that was collateralized by Bitcoin.

All of this comes amid uncertainty about how the Federal Reserve plans to tackle runaway levels of inflation, with an increase of 75 basis points now seen as increasingly likely.

Further volatility could lie ahead for BTC in the coming days, with the U.S. central bank's economists due to meet on Wednesday.

Monday's close saw the S&P 500 end trading at 4,796.56 — down 21.8% from record highs that were set back in January.

By comparison, Bitcoin is now 66.7% below its most recent all-time high of $68,789 recorded in November as investors dump risky assets.

Strong Support at $21,000?

While CoinMarketCap's data shows there's little to cheer about — with the market cap of all cryptocurrencies now below $1 trillion — Bitcoin did rebound after reaching depths of $20,950.82.

As of 7am London time on Tuesday morning, it's currently trading at $22,796.04 — a sign that some traders may still be determined to buy the dips despite heightened levels of volatility.

There are some signs of a slight reprieve when Wall Street opens later today, with U.S. stock futures rising by about 1%.

Monday's carnage saw Binance, the parent company of CoinMarketCap, temporarily pause Bitcoin withdrawals — with the disruption attributed to a "stuck on-chain transaction."

Binance's CEO Changpeng Zhao stressed funds were safe at the time, and network withdrawals resumed about three hours later.

Crypto investors were already on edge after the Celsius Network abruptly halted withdrawals, transfers and swaps on Monday.

There has been little in the way of an update from the embattled crypto lending platform. The only tweet from the network was to confirm that it had "nothing to do with the creation of any so-called CEL 2.0 token," adding:

"Our security team is on alert, as you all should be. Please be vigilant."

Furious users responded to this post by asking for updates on when they will be able to claim their money back.

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