As Bitcoin Loses $19,000, Crypto’s Hopes Rest on the Ethereum Merge
BTC/USD (Pinagmulan: CoinGecko) The world‘s top cryptocurrency extended its weeks-long losing streak Wednesday, tumbling below $19,000 for the first time since the crypto market’s liquidity crisis event in June. Per Data ng CoinGecko, Bitcoin is trading at about $18,730 at press time, down 5.8% on the day. Its currently over 70% short of its November 2021 peak. Bitcoin‘s latest selloff has hit the likes of Ethereum, BNB, Cardano, and Solana even harder, leading to a market-wide downturn that’s brought the global cryptocurrency market capitalization below $1 trillion. After Three Arrows Capital‘s blow-up and the subsequent collapse of crypto lenders like Celsius and Voyager Digital, the crypto market had shown signs of recovery over the summer. Ethereum and other assets surged more than 100% from the June bottom helped in part by slowing inflation rates and relatively conservative moves from the Federal Reserve, but the market’s bullish momentum was called into question in mid-August when Bitcoin failed to break past $25,000 (Crypto and other asset classes took a big hit on August 26 after Fed chair Jerome Powell warned of further “pain” for markets in a speech at Jackson Hole; he reiterated that the U.S. central bank hopes to bring inflation down to 2%.) Can