Selling pressure in the cryptocurrency market moved to the fourth day. While Bitcoin fell 2.5% in the last 24 hours to just below $62,400, weakness was also highlighted in broader market indicators. CoinDesk 20 Index fell 3.3%; Ether, XRP and Solana also lost value in the same period.
Strategy and miners stood out in the sales wave
The market outlook was dominated by concerns around Strategy, which is led by Michael Saylor and holds a large amount of bitcoin on its balance sheet. It was reported that concerns about STRC, the company’s dividend-paying privileged share, have increased, and investors have begun to price possible bitcoin sales to protect the structure.
Analysts stated that the STRC privileged share of Strategy, which is the largest owner of bitcoin traded on the stock exchange, fell below the nominal value, and the possibility that the company may have to sell its coins to defend the structure is more clearly priced in the market.
According to Marex analysts, the pressure is not limited to the company side. Bitcoin’s five consecutive months of trading below its estimated production cost of $78,000 have put a particular strain on miners with weak balance sheets. This has brought to the fore two potential sources of selling that were not in the spotlight recently: institutional bitcoin holders and financially strapped miners.
Derivatives data indicated that the decline expectation was strengthened
The weakening in risk appetite after the Fed meeting on Wednesday was also reflected in derivative markets. More than $450 million in leveraged positions were liquidated in the last 24 hours, and most of them were bullish transactions. Thus, it was seen that investors holding long positions in the market were under pressure.
The amount of open positions in Bitcoin and ether futures has not changed significantly in the last day. In contrast, open interest in Solana futures rose above 70 million tokens, approaching the peak of 71.57 million seen on June 5. It was also stated that the open position on the XRP side has been at its highest levels since October last year.
The fact that funding rates remained close to zero or in the negative zone in many tokens showed that the downward trend continued. Funding rates for ADA, XLM and BCH fell to the minus 20% to minus 30% range. It was noted that in the transaction flow, sellers dragged the price movement with market orders, and this had been repeated since at least Wednesday.
52,000 dollar scenario is discussed in the options market
Demand for hedging put contracts in Bitcoin options has increased. It was stated that investors took positions against the possibility that the price could drop to $ 52,000 or lower in the coming weeks. This picture was also supported by the fact that the volatility premium of put options on 25 delta curves in the one-week term exceeded 10%.
LAB token, which separated from the market, created controversy
Despite the general weakness, the LAB token has shown a remarkable rise. LAB is known as the native crypto asset of LAB Terminal, which offers high-performance transaction execution infrastructure accessible via browser and plug-in. The token is up 57% in the last seven days and 92% this month. It was shared that there was an increase of 250% in April, 900% in May and 78% in March.
Mini dictionary: Market making refers to activities that aim to make transactions more fluid by providing continuous buying and selling quotes in an asset. Vesting, on the other hand, describes the gradual opening of tokens allocated to the team, investors or consultants within a certain calendar.
However, there is no clear framework as to the reason for the rise. Blockchain investigator ZachXBT claimed that 95% of the token supply is held by inside groups. He also alleged that four methods were used simultaneously, including high-interest over-the-counter loans, unilateral vesting extensions, delayed or withheld market awards, and undisclosed market-making agreements.
