Bitcoin, Ether See Price Correction as Overall Crypto Market Witnesses Losses

The overall crypto market witnessed price correction across most cryptocurrencies over the last 24 hours. Bitcoin on Wednesday, December 18 registered a loss of 2.60

Bitcoin price dropped sharply on Wednesday morning, December 18. The world's largest cryptocurrency had hit a new all-time high of over $108,200 (roughly Rs. 91.8 lakh) on Tuesday, December 17. However, it later retreated from this level and was trading at $103,740 (roughly Rs. 88 lakh) on foreign exchanges, as per Gadgets 360's crypto price tracker. This marks a loss of 2.60 percent over the last 24 hours.

Bitcoin began the week on a strong note, surging to new highs on Monday, December 16. It had also hit a new peak earlier this month on December 7. Notably, the recent highs come ahead of the launch of Bitcoin futures exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States.

As mentioned earlier, Bitcoin had reached a new all-time high of over $108,200 (roughly Rs. 91.8 lakh) during the early hours of Wednesday. This new surge followed a strong institutional interest in the cryptocurrency, as per Avinash Shekhar, Co-Founder and CEO, Pi42.

“Bitcoin recently surged to $108,260 (roughly Rs. 91.9 lakh) on Tuesday, representing an increasingly strong institutional interest. The market's strong fundamentals include persistent demand from spot Bitcoin ETFs and tight supply,” he told Gadgets360.

“The most important thing for Bitcoin now is to hold above $102,000 (roughly Rs. 86.6 lakh) support, since a break below could set off a liquidity crunch and holding above could signal more upside.”

On Indian cryptocurrency exchanges, such as CoinDCX and CoinSwitch, the price of Bitcoin was trading at $103,701 (roughly Rs. 88.6 lakh) at the time of writing, indicating a loss of 2.63 percent over the last 24 hours.

Meanwhile, the price of Ether also saw a significant drop of 4.25 percent over the last day on global exchanges. At present, ETH is trading at $3,841 (roughly Rs. 3.26 lakh) on foreign exchanges, showed CoinMarketCap. As per Indian exchanges, ETH value dropped by 4.88 percent bringing its price to $3,839 (roughly Rs. 3.26 lakh).

“Ethereum is in the consolidation phase right now but can mimic the rally of Bitcoin as the investors sentiments are bullish for Ethereum, as short positions are being liquidated all over the board. Ethereum gets a boost from its history of lagging and then catching up to Bitcoin's momentum,” Shekhar added.

As shown by the crypto price tracker by Gadgets 360 – most altcoins are trading in the reds indicating losses on Wednesday.

Tether, Binance Coin, Dogecoin, Cardano, Tron, Avalanche, and Chainlink saw losses.

Shiba Inu, Polkadot, Bitcoin Cash, Near Protocol, and Cronos also registered price dips on Wednesday.

The overall valuation of the crypto sector tumbled by 2.77 percent in the last 24 hours. The present market cap of the sector has reached $3.62 trillion (roughly Rs. 3,07,42,307 crore), showed CoinMarketCap. Bitcoin's dominance on the market stands at 56.65 percent.

Market experts anticipate a more favorable regulatory environment for cryptocurrencies in the near future.

“The crypto market has shown encouraging signs as US lawmakers have pledged to advance digital asset legislation, a long-awaited move for the sector. Key members, including the new Senate Banking Chair, have referred to crypto as the ‘next wonder' of the world, signaling a strong commitment to regulatory clarity. This positive momentum reflects growing institutional interest and a favorable political environment for cryptocurrencies,” Shivam Thakral, CEO of BuyUcoin told Gadgets 360.

Moreover, Ripple, Solana, Stellar, Uniswap, Litecoin, and Iota recorded minor profits on Wednesday.

Industry insiders have said that investors should remain cautious but optimistic about navigating their way out of macroeconomic uncertainties in the coming days.

Cryptocurrency is an unregulated digital currency, not a legal tender and subject to market risks. The information provided in the article is not intended to be and does not constitute financial advice, trading advice or any other advice or recommendation of any sort offered or endorsed by NDTV. NDTV shall not be responsible for any loss arising from any investment based on any perceived recommendation, forecast or any other information contained in the article.