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Just when bitcoin (BTC-USD) was approaching its record high after Monday’s breakout, the cryptocurrency on Tuesday pared optimism and retreated back to below the psychological threshold of $70K.
The largest digital token by market cap slid 4.2% to $68.7K at 3:28 p.m. ET, after reaching as high as $72.5K in the previous session.
The slump rippled through the crypto market, with ether (ETH-USD) falling 5.3% to $3.5K, solana (SOL-USD) -3.2%, cardano (ADA-USD) -2% and dogecoin (DOGE-USD) -7.2%.
Amid the market weakness, some $248M worth of leveraged derivatives stakes had been liquidated across all cryptos in the past 24 hours, according to CoinGlass data.
Market participants are bracing for the bitcoin (BTC-USD) halving event due later this month, one of several catalysts that Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse believes will drive up the wider crypto market value to $5T by the end of 2024 from the current $2.58T.
Crypto-related stocks also saw some selling pressure: MicroStrategy (MSTR) -5.6%, Coinbase Global (COIN) -4.8%, Galaxy Digital (OTCPK:BRPHF) -18.1%, Riot Platforms (RIOT) -1%, Bit Digital (BTBT) -4.2%.
This article was originally published by a seekingalpha.com . Read the Original article here. .