During the extended long weekend in the US, markets are showing softness as Asia commences its Wednesday trading session. Bitcoin’s price has experienced a slight decline of 1.1%, reaching $30,807, while ether has also seen a decrease of 0.8% to $1,939. CoinGlass data reveals that open interest has maintained stability at approximately $14.38 billion. However, trading volume on major exchanges has witnessed a decline ranging between 15% to 20%.
The decrease in activity is reflected in the liquidation volumes, with only $148,000 worth of positions liquidated in the past four hours and $7.2 million liquidated within the last 12 hours. These figures indicate a relatively lower level of trading and liquidation activity in the market.
Bitcoin and US Stock correlation fades
According to crypto analytics firm Block Scholes, the correlation between bitcoin’s price changes and the U.S. stock markets, specifically Nasdaq and the S&P 500, has significantly declined over the past 90 days, nearing zero. This is the lowest correlation level observed in two years.
The research analyst at Block Scholes noted that the decreasing correlation occurred as both Bitcoin and traditional assets retraced losses incurred during the tightening cycle in the previous year.
As a result of this dwindling correlation with traditional risk assets, crypto traders who solely rely on traditional market sentiment and macroeconomic developments may face challenges in predicting Bitcoin’s price movements.
The recent filing of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by major financial institutions such as BlackRock, Fidelity, WisdomTree, VanEck, Invesco, and others has instilled optimism within the crypto market. Since BlackRock’s filing on June 15, bitcoin has demonstrated a notable 25% return, despite the range-bound activity observed in U.S. stock indices.
According to Ilan Solot, co-head of digital assets at Marex Solutions, the ETF narrative can be understood in three key aspects. First, there is anticipation and speculation surrounding the launch of these ETFs, leading to potential frontrunning by investors.
Second, once the spot ETFs are live, there may be significant capital flows into the market. Lastly, the approval and introduction of these ETFs would serve as a validation of cryptocurrencies as a recognized asset class.
