Crypto Market Plunges Amid Rate Hike Fears and Oil Price Surge
The cryptocurrency market experienced a tumultuous week, with Bitcoin (BTC) plummeting by 4.36% and Ethereum (ETH) holding relatively steady at 1.58%. The total crypto market capitalization dropped to $2.63 trillion from $2.71 trillion the previous week.
Market participants were spooked by concerns over a potential rate hike and rising oil prices, leading to significant long position liquidations, with almost $600 million in long positions taken out on Wednesday and Thursday alone. Funding rates remained neutral across major assets, indicating no clear sentiment bias.
Notable developments included Michael Saylor's company Strategy buying back an additional $176 million in STRC and increasing the size of its Digital Credit Securities Program to $2 billion. Germany also announced plans to impose a 25% tax on crypto gains exceeding one year. Meanwhile, U.S. Bank successfully executed a live pilot transaction using its proprietary USD stablecoin.