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Bitcoin fell sharply after a sell-off of major U.S. stock indices. Bitcoin has been correlated closely to the price movement of the Nasdaq index.<\/p>\n
Luke MacGregor\u00a0 | Bloomberg | Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Bitcoin<\/a> cratered on Thursday as a major stock sell-off in the U.S. spooked the cryptocurrency market.<\/p>\n Bitcoin was down more than 8% at $36,251.50 on Friday around 4:03 a.m. ET, according to CoinDesk data. On Thursday, bitcoin dipped below $36,000 before paring some of those losses.<\/p>\n Other cryptocurrencies including ether<\/a> and XRP<\/a> were also down sharply.<\/p>\n Around $129 billion of value was wiped off the cryptocurrency market in a 24-hour period as of 4:03 a.m. ET, according to data from CoinMarketCap.<\/p>\n The selling of cryptocurrency was sparked by a painful day on Wall Street where the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost more than 1,000 points<\/a> on Thursday, marking its worst single-day drop since 2020.<\/p>\n The tech-heavy Nasdaq<\/a> fell nearly 5%. Bitcoin has remained correlated to equity markets with the cryptocurrency falling or rising in tandem with stocks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n “Overall, global markets have been spooked by growth fears as we can see. The Dow had its worst drop since 2020, and all related risky-based assets followed suit including crypto,” Vijay Ayyar, vice president of corporate development and international at crypto exchange Luno, told CNBC.<\/p>\n On Wednesday, the U.S. Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point<\/a>. Further interest rate hikes and tightening of monetary policy have sparked fears that the U.S. economy could go into a recession<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ayyar said that bitcoin “lost a key level” when it fell below $37,500 and that could indicate “a move much lower” in the next few days. He said bitcoin could test a low of $30,000 soon and if the price falls below that, it could drop to $25,000.<\/p>\n “However, we could see some relief rallies in the meanwhile, but nothing to indicate a change in sentiment” unless bitcoin is able to find market support above $42,000, Ayyar added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n