Bitcoin (BTC) dropped below $ 42,000 for the first time since September 2021 as the market remains in the red.
According to CoinMarketCap, the leading cryptocurrency is down 2.92% in the past 24 hours, reaching $ 41,733 during intraday trading.
This is a 39.5% decrease from the all-time high (ATH) of $ 69,000 Blow last November.
A wave of protests broke out in Kazakhstan because of high energy costs. As a result, the country’s government imposed a nationwide internet shutdown to tame the unrest and caused the BTC miners to cease operations.
As a result, the Bitcoin mining hashrate has fallen by 19.6% from its high of 229 EH / s on January 1 to its current level of 184.25 EH / s. according to to the data analysis platform Coinwarz.
After the mass exodus of miners from China in May 2021, Kazakhstan has become the second largest BTC mining hub after the USA.
The slump in Bitcoin price is also attributed to to the US Federal Reserve plans to raise interest rates in March.
Therefore, it is very likely that the Fed will hike rates this year amid heightened unease with high inflation. As a safe haven with high inflation, Bitcoin fell below $ 44,000 immediately after the announcement, and the price continues to plummet.
The significant liquidation in the crypto market has brought its market cap below $ 2 trillion, compared to $ 1.96 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.
Meanwhile, market analyst Michael van de Poppe believes Bitcoin will have to recapture the USD 46,000 level in order to realize an upward momentum. He specified:
“Could be a scenario for a reversal in Bitcoin. In this case, a bullish divergence appears to be emerging (another scenario is a quick rebound above $ 46,000, that would also be a signal). “
With El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele reveal His optimistic predictions that Bitcoin price could hit $ 100,000 this year remains to be seen how the top cryptocurrency will perform.
However, Goldman Sachs analyst Zach Pandl said in a recent research report that Bitcoin is likely to overtake gold in market share in 2022.
Goldman Sachs said Bitcoin currently has a 20% share of the “store of value market”. The market capitalization of the cryptocurrency is $ 700 billion while gold is held as an investment, valued at $ 2.6 trillion.
Goldman Sachs has further forecast that Bitcoin will “most likely” get a bigger stake over time. The American multinational investment bank and financial services firm also found that if Bitcoin were to capture a 50% market share, it would hit a little over $ 100,000, Blockchain.News reported.
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