Bitcoin was trading below US$20,000 in late morning trade in Asia on Thursday as reports of a court-ordered liquidation of Three Arrows Capital (3AC) added to fears of a contagion in crypto.
See related article: Three Arrows Capital lines up for liquidation
Fast facts
- The world’s largest cryptocurrency fell to as low as US$19,937.79 in the past 24 hours before paring losses to trade down 1.4% at US$20,065.62 in late morning trade in Asia on Thursday, according to CoinMarketCap.
- Ethereum fell by more than 5% to US$1,089.82 in late morning trade, while Solana was the biggest loser among the top 10 cryptocurrencies, falling over 7% to trade at US$32.99.
- Dogecoin was the only token in the top 10 to post some gains. The memecoin rose over 2% in the past 24 hours to trade at US$0.0685 in late morning trade.
- Crypto’s market capitalization as tracked by CoinMarketCap was down over 2% to US$893 billion.
- This comes after a court in the British Virgin Islands, where 3AC is domiciled, reportedly ordered a liquidation. The news led to crypto prices plummeting overnight as it could exacerbate any contagion risk.
- Meanwhile, government data out of the U.S. showed its economy contracted deeper than anticipated in the first quarter amid a record trade deficit.
- After registering steep losses on Tuesday from a lackluster U.S. consumer confidence report, Wall Street closed up mostly unchanged over the 1Q data.
- The technology-focused Nasdaq Composite closed 0.03% lower with the S&P 500 lower by 0.07%, bringing its year-to-date losses at about 20%.
See related article: Wall Street seems to sense opportunity in distressed crypto markets