Crypto Market Overview June 20th | Dex-Trade
Over the Past Weekend, the Capitalization of Bitcoin Fell by $7.325 billion
Last weekend was one of the most tragic periods in the crypto market, as a massive collapse in the price of BTC dropped to $17,721, which caused a cascading sale of crypto gold. As a result of mass liquidations, about 550,000 Bitcoins worth about $7.325 billion were sold. Since Friday, the rate of sales has increased by $2.42 billion per day, which is today a record value. It was also a unique precedent that not only emotional players, but also long-term holders of coins, massively sold their BTC assets. Most Bitcoins were sold in the price range between $18,000 and $23,000. Interestingly, long-term holders who held BTC for 1 year or more, most of whom purchased coins in the first half of 2021 or earlier, began to panic, selling on exchanges from 20,000 to 36,000 Bitcoins every day. A similar situation was observed in the altcoin market. Mass sales brought down the capitalization of the crypto market to $792 billion, the lowest value since the growing market in January 2021. However, not all holders succumbed to panic at the time of the collapse. Many market players have managed to make money on margin trading thanks to timely opened orders for credit funds. Many also turned to futures trading, which eventually "stirred up" the market and stopped the crash.
El Salvador's President Advises Traders to “Be Patient”
After Bitcoin fell below $18,000, the President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, on Twitter urged traders in the cryptocurrency market to be patient, forget about bearish trends for a while and wait out the “storm,” mentioning that the current market situation is not critical and soon everything will change for the better. Bukele stated that traders investing in Bitcoin have nothing to worry about. He is confident that everything will return to normal once the bearish reversal is over. However, no one seems to know when this will happen, as the market's recovery from bouts of bearish activity could take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. At the same time, some sources that are currently monitoring the price of “El Salvador’s investment portfolio” report that the entire stock of Bitcoins bought with the country’s budget funds has now fallen by 56% and is about $46 million. At the same time, the amount of funds invested in purchase of a digital asset, initially amounted to about $100 million. Over the weekend, rumors were actively spreading in the country that, due to the collapse of Bitcoin, the country's economy was in a deep crisis. But El Salvador's finance minister, in an interview with a radio station, dispelled them, mentioning that the losses are only a tiny part of their national budget. He also noted that currently the country has not sold digital assets, meaning it does not have any realized losses.
Iranian Authorities Cut Off Electricity to Legal Cryptocurrency Miners
In an interview with one of the state TV channels, Iran's energy industry spokesman, Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi, said that the country would cut off power to all 118 licensed mining companies starting June 22. This decision is connected with the growing demand for electricity in the country with the onset of summer and is not the first time. Mashhadi stressed that over the past few weeks, the country has experienced a significant shortage of electricity, and the total demand for it has exceeded 60,000 megawatts. Recall that last year the Iranian authorities turned off the electricity to the miners until the end of September. There is no information on the timing of the current shutdown yet. However, unlike in previous years, Iran’s share of BTC mining is noticeably declining, so shutting down all licensed miners in the country will not have a catastrophic impact on the hash rate on the cryptocurrency network. The Cambridge Bitcoin Mining Map shows that the number of miners in Iran has dropped significantly. For example, in June last year, it accounted for 6.9% of the total hashrate, and as of January 2022, this percentage has dropped to 0.2%. Back in 2020, the country’s authorities allowed some miners to operate legally, but have since confiscated countless unlicensed mining rigs. Apparently, mining Bitcoin with licenses is not so interesting.
