Bitcoin breaks below $20,000 amid market selloff

Ethereum also fell below $1,500 on Saturday.

Bitcoin suffers from market dip

The sell-off in the crypto market has not given up.

Bitcoin briefly fell below $20,000 on Saturday, extending its weeks-long losing streak. According to CoinGecko data, it is down approx. 3.9% today and 18% in the last 14 days. Bitcoin last fell below the crucial $20,000 level in mid-July, but was hit by volatility in August. It currently trades for $19,996.

The world’s second largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum, also suffered as Bitcoin retreated. According to CoinGecko data, Ethereum is down 7.6% on the day, trading at around $1,475. Like Bitcoin, it has had a rough couple of weeks, shaving off about 24.7% of its market cap.

Several other assets, including Layer 1 networks Solana and Avalanche and DeFi staples Uniswap and Aave, have also bled in the downturn.

A cross-market rally throughout July and early August raised hopes that the crypto market could show signs of life after a months-long decline. Anticipation surrounding Ethereum’s Merge event was a particularly potent narrative among crypto traders, especially after the September launch date was slated. However, recent activity suggests that the market has lost some of the confidence it found earlier in the summer.

The global cryptocurrency market capitalization is currently just over $1 trillion after taking a hit of 6.1%. That’s about 66% less than the November 2021 peak of $3 trillion.

Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this piece owned ETH, AAVE, and several other cryptocurrencies. They also had exposure to UNI in a cryptocurrency index.