Bitcoin breaks below $22,000 ── Concern over staking spreads | coindesk JAPAN | Coindesk Japan

Bitcoin (BTC) fell about 4% in 24 hours on the 9th, breaking below $22,000.

Kraken has announced that it will stop providing staking services to U.S. customers in response to a lawsuit by the SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) and will pay a settlement of $30 million (about 3.9 billion yen). Anxiety spread in the market. Around 10:30 on the 9th Japan time, around $ 21,860.

Ethereum (ETH) similarly fell about 4%, near $1,569.

Crypto-related stocks also struggled in the stock market, with Coinbase dropping 14% during trading hours on Monday, bitcoin mining firm Marathon Digital Holdings down 13%, and MicroStrategy down 10%.

Concerns over staking

Yesterday, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong tweeted that he had heard rumors that the SEC wanted to ban retail investors from staking. Kraken news followed suit. Many analysts are concerned about future developments.

“Whether the rumors are true or not remains to be seen, but what is clear is that the rest of the world will be ahead of the rest of the world in a major revolution in cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, which is a big mistake from the American perspective.” Marcus Sotiriou, market analyst at cryptocurrency broker GlobalBlock, commented.

Some investors, worried about strong employment data and a long-term continuation of hawkish monetary policy aimed at keeping inflation in check, believe bitcoin will fall to the $20,000 support in the near future. Others, however, believe that the current stagnation is temporary and that the stocks will head back up again in line with past trends.

“What we are experiencing now seems to be similar to the market trend of 2019’s upswing and then flattening, followed by a big drop,” said blockchain developer Emurgo Money. Zing Director, Vineeth Bhuvanagiri. He said the market had entered a “buying phase, not just a recovery,” which ultimately led to a rally in 2020.

Mauricio Di Bartolomeo, co-founder of cryptocurrency lending platform Ledn, said short liquidations usually drive price increases, but the lack of recent Bitcoin short liquidations is unlikely. He said it showed that “the flat market may continue for some time.”

Data from cryptocurrency data platform Coinglass shows liquidation of bitcoin short positions at around $42 million and long positions at around $90 million over the past seven days.

“There is moderate leverage on both the bottom and the top. Right now, the situation is likely to be flat in the short term,” said Bartolomeo.

Bitcoin fell about 60% in 2022, but recovered in January. According to Messari’s latest quarterly report, recent market indicators such as “massive bitcoin movements from centralized exchanges to self-custody wallets” and “increase in daily active addresses and transactions” have “raised the market.” It indicates the possibility of bottoming out” and “sustained long-term investor confidence”.

“Although the hype surrounding Bitcoin has diminished, the network has so far experienced a resurgence in popularity after a period of doubt,” Messari wrote in the report.

｜Translation: coindesk JAPAN
｜Editing: Takayuki Masuda
| Image: CoinDesk
｜Original: Bitcoin Drops Below $22K as Kraken Agreement to Close Crypto Staking Operations Spooks Investors