Bitcoin fell below $22,000 on Friday, its lowest level in more than three weeks, amid a sudden crypto sell-off in early European trading.
According to CoinDesk data, Bitcoin fell from $22,738 to below $21,12.34 at 4:00 p.m. ET. The cryptocurrency was trading between $21,500 and $22,000 earlier in the morning.
It comes as the world’s largest digital coin has surpassed the $25,000 mark for the first time since June, thanks to a rise in US stocks.
At the same time, ether fell from $1,808 to $1,728 before staging a modest rebound. By 4:00 p.m. ET, it had fallen even further, to $1,683.90.
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It was not immediately clear what caused the drop, which also sent Binance Coin, Cardano, and Solana down.
“It doesn’t fit the pattern of a flash crash because the assets didn’t immediately rebound sharply but sank even lower in the hours after,” said Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown. “In the absence of other more external factors, it appears likely that it was the result of a large sale transaction.”
According to Streeter, it appears that Cardano was the first to fall, followed by Bitcoin and Ether, and then smaller coins like Dogecoin.
“This new chill has descended amid fears that the market is about to enter a crypto winter,” she added. “Although Bitcoin is still some way off its June lows of under $19,000, volatility is wracking the market once again.”
Digital coins may be following equities lower as well.
“US equity markets have pulled back since Wednesday’s release of the July Fed meeting minutes,” Simon Peters, crypto market analyst at eToro, told CNBC. “The key takeaway is that the Fed likely won’t be finished with rate hikes until inflation is tamed across the board, with no guidance on future rate increases either.”
