Pigs hit hard at BTC market, plunges 8%

Bitcoin prices plunged by more than 8% yesterday, approaching the $9,000 level, owing to heavy losses suffered in the cryptocurrency markets.

The flagship cryptocurrency dropped as low as $9,108.47 yesterday before it rebounded to $9,308, according to data obtained from Coinmarketcap.

Cryptos were not the only financial assets affected yesterday, as stocks globally printed lower. Nigeria’s All-share Index was down by 0.13%, while America’s S&P 500 index dropped by nearly 6% on Thursday, Google Finance data showed.

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Analysts provided similar bias, with Avi Felman, head of trading at BlockTower Capital, stating:

“The recent sharp drop in the equity markets is rattling investors who have watched Bitcoin struggle to break 10,000 even in a risk-on market.

“Now that equity markets are suggesting there may be a continued downside, digital asset investors are reminded of the last time equity markets fell out (which coincided with a large bitcoin drawdown) and are selling out of fear about a potential resumption of the equity bear market.”

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This was a massive decline, “in the equity markets today, with large-cap U.S. stock indices plunging more than 5-6%,” said John Todaro, director of digital currency research for TradeBlock.

“There was a general flight to cash today, with even gold ETFs trading down. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies were not immune to the sell-off and in a heightened correlation between assets, nearly everything traded lower,” he noted.

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