Drops Below $96K, as False TradingView Chart Scares Investors By Investing.com

Investing.com — Bitcoin fell on Thursday, snapping two days of gains, as investors responded to the TradingView glitch and remained cautious amid macroeconomic pressures in the wake of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s hawkish stance.

It fell 2.6% to $95,884.0 by 06:52 ET (11:52 GMT).

It fell below the key $100,000 level last week after Fed officials signaled a slowing pace of future cuts.

The price of Bitcoin fell due to a TradingView error that sparked volatility

Bitcoin fell on Thursday as markets appeared to respond to inaccurate chart data from TradingView.

The cryptocurrency fell toward $95,000 after social media users reported an anomaly in TradingView’s Bitcoin dominance chart, which incorrectly showed Bitcoin’s share of the total cryptocurrency market capitalization falling to 0%.

Although the error was corrected, it reportedly sparked surprising trading reactions that prompted a decline.

According to CoinGlass data, nearly $33 million worth of long Bitcoin positions were liquidated within four hours.

Bitcoin’s market dominance has become a major focus for traders recently, as Bitcoin’s rise to all-time highs has left altcoins lagging behind.

Dominance briefly topped 61.5% in mid-November before retreating, raising expectations for a possible “replacement season.”

Bitcoin rose nearly 5% in the previous two sessions but failed to continue the positive momentum on Thursday as investors were cautious about the outlook for speculative assets such as cryptocurrencies after the Federal Reserve signaled smaller interest rate cuts in 2025.

Last week, Bitcoin posted its first weekly decline since Trump won the election in early November after a Federal Reserve meeting halted the post-election rally.

The rally pushed prices to an all-time high of $108,244.9, after which prices fell on profit-taking amid macroeconomic pressures stemming from Fed interest rate expectations.

The central bank cut interest rates by 25 basis points, but indicated only two interest rate cuts for next year, compared to previous expectations of four cuts.

This shift has led investors to reevaluate their positions in speculative assets such as Bitcoin, which has contributed to a decline in their prices.

Russia uses Bitcoin in foreign trade

Russian companies have begun using bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for international payments after legislative changes allowed their use to help mitigate the impact of Western sanctions, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Wednesday.

The sanctions have made trade with key partners such as China and Turkey more difficult, with local banks being extremely cautious in Russia-linked transactions to avoid attracting scrutiny from Western regulators.

In response, Russia legalized the use of cryptocurrencies in foreign trade this year and initiated measures to regulate the mining of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin. As a global leader in Bitcoin mining, the country leverages its position to overcome economic constraints.

Cryptocurrency Price Today: Most Altcoins Are Declining

Other cryptocurrencies fell on Thursday, tracking Bitcoin’s decline and as demand for speculative assets remained weak after a hawkish Federal Reserve rattled investor sentiment.

The world’s No. 2 cryptocurrency fell 3.4% to $3,367.06. Ether has risen in the past three sessions but has not been able to fully recover from last week’s decline.

The world’s No. 3 cryptocurrency fell 4.2% to $2,190.

It decreased by 3.2%, decreased by 5.8%, and decreased by 5%. Among tokens, it lost 4.6%.

Cryptocurrency markets are facing potential volatility as standard Bitcoin options expiration approaches

Cryptocurrency markets could face elevated volatility in the final days of 2024 as major Bitcoin options expiration approaches. On Friday at 8:00 UTC, 146,000 Bitcoin options contracts worth approximately $14 billion will expire on Deribit, the largest event of its kind for the exchange. This represents 44% of all open Bitcoin options and is expected to lead to volatility.

Options give buyers the right to buy or sell an asset at a specific price in the future. Calls allow buying, while put options allow selling.

Along with Bitcoin, $3.84 billion worth of ETH options will also expire. Ethereum has fallen nearly 12% to $3,400 since the Fed meeting, with Debit controlling more than 80% of the global cryptocurrency options market.

Nearly $4 billion worth of Bitcoin options, or 28% of the total open interest of $14 billion, are set to expire “in the money,” providing dividends to holders. Traders may either close out these positions or include them in futures contracts, which may increase market volatility.

Ayushmann Ojha contributed to this report.