Market overview
The cryptocurrency market capitalization has been shrinking rapidly since the start of the new week, falling 5% to $2.38 trillion, its lowest level since early April. Confidence in the cryptocurrency’s prospects appears to have fallen sharply following reports that Bitcoin token sales were largely sold off Strategy’s balance sheet, which may be followed by more active selling from other holders.
We also cannot rule out an “Iranian connection,” as reports of Iranian cryptocurrency seizures undermine the idea of anonymity and untraceability that has long underpinned the cryptocurrency market. The strong performance of supposedly anonymous currencies fits well with this hypothesis. Thus, over the last 24 hours, the best performers were NEAR Protocol (+14.8%), Internet Computer (+10.2%) and Zcash (+5%). The three worst performers are Stellar (-13.2%), Basic Attention Token (-10%), and Bitcoin (-4.3%).
Bitcoin is accelerating its decline, falling to $69,000, although it started the week just above $74,000. As expected, the drop below the 50-day moving average a week ago came after more than a week of selling pressure at that level. Technically, the leading cryptocurrency faces relatively few hurdles on its way to the $65-66K range, but with further declines, there could be long-term support, having halted the decline in February and March.
News background
According to CoinShares, global investment in cryptocurrency funds fell by $1.671 billion last week, representing the largest outflow since January. Investments in Bitcoin fell by $1.438 billion (the largest Bitcoin outflow this year), in Ethereum by $257 million, in Solana by $1 million, and in Swee by $1 million. Altcoin investments rose by $20 million in XRP, $11 million in Hyperliquid, and $8 million in Near.
Santiment notes that sentiment toward Bitcoin on social media has reached its most positive level since the beginning of the year, despite the cryptocurrency market’s decline in May. In the past, such increases in optimism often coincided with rising local prices of the asset.
The strategy sold Bitcoin for the first time since 2022. Last week, 32 Bitcoins were sold for approximately $2.5 million at an average price of $77,135 per coin. Bitcoin’s largest holder, which previously promised never to sell assets, will use the proceeds to pay preferred stock dividends.
As a result of the latest adjustment, Bitcoin mining difficulty increased by 1.72% to $138.96 trillion. This number has returned to its highest levels in April.
Telegram founder Pavel Durov has renamed the cryptocurrency Toncoin (TON) to Gram (GRAM), describing the renaming as a return to its roots. The blockchain will keep the name TON (Open Network). No action is required from token holders.
