On Monday, April 21, bitcoin exceeded $88 thousand and then dropped to $86,800. Currently, the price is $88,543, the highest since the end of March. BTC’s surge came after a sharp drop in the US dollar, which hit a three-year low amid growing concerns about political interference in the US Federal Reserve. Donald Trump criticized Fed Chairman Jerome Powell on his own social network Truth Social. The US president is also pressuring the central bank to cut interest rates. White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett added that the legality of Powell’s removal from office is being reviewed. This provoked market volatility, which led to a decline in the US dollar index by more than 1% to levels last seen in March 2022.
The Dow Jones, S&P 500, and Nasdaq industrial indices fell by about 3%. At the same time, bitcoin has risen in price as investors often turn to this asset, which is considered a safer means of preserving value in such periods. Gold, another similar proxy asset, also rose above $3,420 per ounce, its highest price ever.
Ethereum, the second-largest digital asset, has fallen by more than 20% over the past month.
The sharp price fluctuations have led to large-scale liquidations. According to CoinGlass data, at the time of writing, liquidated BTC positions totaling $87 million. The shorts were the most affected: $57 million. In total, 106124 traders were liquidated over the past 24 hours, with a total liquidation amount of $268. The largest loss was recorded on Bybit in the ETH/USDT pair: $2.65 million.
What’s next for the market? Judging by what analysts say, the swings will continue in the near future. Although there is still potential for growth, a long crypto winter is not excluded.