Bitcoin and Ethereum on edge as Genesis moves closer to bankruptcy

Bitcoin (BTC) could be feeling the heat heading into the latter half of the week as the markets brace for another high-profile bankruptcy with Genesis, the lending platform owned by crypto conglomerate Digital Currency Group teetering on the precipice.

With more than US$3bn owed to creditors, Genesis’ pending – though still not confirmed – collapse has the potential to spark a fresh round of crypto contagion, just as BTC was in the middle of a 2023 resurgence.

Bitcoin closed 2% lower at US$20,677 on Wednesday, although today saw 0.5% added to bring the BTC/USDT pair above US$20,800. Buy-side orders seem willing to support BTC at US$19,500, while the bears remain pitched at US$22,000.

Can bitcoin (BTC) shrug off fresh market contagion? – Source: currency.com

Ethereum (ETH) fell 3.5% to US$1,511 in yesterday’s session before adding a percentage point this morning. Currently changing hands at US$1,528, the ETH/USDT pair faces resistance at US$1,600 and bullish support at US$1,400.

The wider altcoin space saw a sharp drawback on Wednesday evening on news of a major international enforcement action announced by the US Justice Department. When that ended up being the arrest of the Russian head of the little-known crypto broker Bitzlato, the markets shrugged it off and sought to enter a correction.

Dogecoin (DOGE), Polygon (MATIC), Shiba Inu (SHIB), and Solana (SOL) all dropped over 5% in a short space of time, but have largely traded upwards this morning.

NFT-focused blockchain network Enjin gained nearly 20% in the past 24 hours following the release of Enjin Wallet 2.0, making it the top mover today.

Global cryptocurrency market capitalisation fell 2.3% to US$969bn overnight, while total volumes locked across all decentralised finance (DeFi) protocols dipped 1.5% to US$44.5bn.


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