04-16-2025, 02:39 PM
Why is the crypto market down today?
<p style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 15px; width:240px;"><img src="https://images.cointelegraph.com/images/840_aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy5jb2ludGVsZWdyYXBoLmNvbS91cGxvYWRzLzIwMjQtMDgvODAzMjgxMmQtMWQ1MC00NmFiLWI5NjUtYTBjYjZkZDQxYTYz.jpg"></p><p><p style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 15px; width:240px;"><img src="https://images.cointelegraph.com/images/840_aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy5jb2ludGVsZWdyYXBoLmNvbS91cGxvYWRzLzIwMjQtMDgvODAzMjgxMmQtMWQ1MC00NmFiLWI5NjUtYTBjYjZkZDQxYTYz.jpg" alt="Why is the crypto market down today?"></p><p>The combined valuation of all cryptocurrencies has fallen by around 3.65%, or $97 billion, in the past 24 hours to reach $2.58 trillion on April 16. <figure><img alt="Cryptocurrencies, Federal Reserve, Central Bank, Bitcoin Price, Economy, Markets, Stocks, Inflation, Stablecoin" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-04/01963db9-a99f-719c-9a44-e53937de9304" title=""><figcaption style="text-align: center;"><p><em>TOTAL crypto market cap four-hour performance chart. Source: TradingView</em></p></figcaption></figure><p>The top catalysts that are driving the crypto market lower today include:</p><ul><li><p>An ongoing tech sector slump.</p></li><li><p>Reports about China potentially dumping $16 billion in Bitcoin.</p></li><li><p>Liquidations in the futures market.</p></li><li><p>Weakening technicals.</p></li></ul><h2>Export restrictions on Nvidia hurt stocks, crypto </h2><p>Today, the crypto market’s declines mirrored similar downside sentiment in the broader risk market. </p><p>Wall Street sentiment turned sour after the Donald Trump administration imposed new restrictions on Nvidia’s chip exports to China, stoking fears of another intense tariff cycle. </p><p>On April 16, Nthanksaq 100 futures dropped over 2.30%, while European markets sank, with chipmakers ASML Holding NV falling more than 7% on weaker demand expectations. The market turbulence spilled over into cryptocurrencies, a sector that has shown a consistent correlation with US stocks since May 2020.</p><figure><img alt="Cryptocurrencies, Federal Reserve, Central Bank, Bitcoin Price, Economy, Markets, Stocks, Inflation, Stablecoin" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-04/01963dcf-938f-7443-bc8d-326a393e8aed" title=""><figcaption style="text-align: center;"><p><em>TOTAL crypto market cap and Nthanksaq 100’s 52-week correlation coefficient. Source: TradingView</em></p></figcaption></figure><p>Meanwhile, gold markets continued acting as a global safe haven in times of economic uncertainty led by <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-markets-relatively-orderly-amid-trump-tariff-chaos-nydig" rel="" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-markets-relatively-orderly-amid-trump-tariff-chaos-nydig">Trump’s zigzag tariff policies</a>. The precious metal rose to a new record high of over $3,317 an ounce on April 16. </p><p><em><strong>Related: </strong></em><a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-trader-gold-blow-off-top-xau-new-3-3-k-record" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-trader-gold-blow-off-top-xau-new-3-3-k-record"><em><strong>Bitcoin trader sees gold 'blow-off top' as XAU nears new $3.3K record</strong></em></a></p><p>Gold has outperformed Bitcoin (<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/bitcoin-price" rel="" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/bitcoin-price">BTC</a>) in 2025 so far, rising by 26.50% year-to-date compared to BTC dropping by 11.50%.</p><figure><img alt="Cryptocurrencies, Federal Reserve, Central Bank, Bitcoin Price, Economy, Markets, Stocks, Inflation, Stablecoin" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-04/01963e06-8393-7526-b31e-e4799ec95242" title=""><figcaption style="text-align: center;"><p><em>XAU/USD vs. BTC/USD year-to-date performance chart. Source: TradingView</em></p></figcaption></figure><p>That further signals a dampening risk appetite among investors and traders alike, which is hurting Bitcoin and the broader crypto market.</p><h2>China may dump $16 billion in Bitcoin holdings</h2><p>The crypto market’s decline occurred amid reports that <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/china-selling-seized-crypto-top-up-coffers-reuters" rel="" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/news/china-selling-seized-crypto-top-up-coffers-reuters">China may start offloading seized Bitcoin</a> assets, a complete opposite of the US’s plans to employ such assets for national reserves. </p><p>Multiple Chinese municipalities are reportedly offloading around 15,000 BTC (worth $1.4 billion) through offshore exchanges to counter domestic economic slowdowns. </p><p>The report appears months after CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/china-sold-19b-bitcoin-token-seizure" rel="" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/news/china-sold-19b-bitcoin-token-seizure">claimed</a> that the Chinese government likely sold nearly $20 billion worth of Bitcoin seized from the PlusToken Ponzi scheme in January.</p><p>However, recent data shows that the government has been holding 190,000 BTC—worth over $16 billion—since January 2024.</p><figure><img alt="Cryptocurrencies, Federal Reserve, Central Bank, Bitcoin Price, Economy, Markets, Stocks, Inflation, Stablecoin" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-04/01963dea-c959-7f82-985d-9392ce0b8afe" title=""><figcaption style="text-align: center;"><p><em>China’s Bitcoin holdings chart. Source: </em><a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://bitcointreasuries.net/entities/china" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" text="null" title="https://bitcointreasuries.net/entities/china"><em>BitcoinTreasuries.net</em></a></p></figcaption></figure><p>Past <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/german-government-354m-btc-sell-off" rel="" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/news/german-government-354m-btc-sell-off">selloffs by Germany and the US</a> have shown that even modest state liquidations can spark panic and drive prices lower.</p><h2>Crypto market suffers $245M in liquidations</h2><p>The cryptocurrency market’s sell-off today coincides with a wave of liquidations in the futures market, <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://www.coinglass.com/LiquidationData" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" text="null" title="https://www.coinglass.com/LiquidationData">totaling</a> $245.37 million in the last 24 hours. </p><p>Notably, the futures market witnessed long liquidations worth $173.83 million of the total wipeout. In comparison, short traders saw comparatively lower liquidations at $71.55 million.</p><figure><img alt="Cryptocurrencies, Federal Reserve, Central Bank, Bitcoin Price, Economy, Markets, Stocks, Inflation, Stablecoin" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-04/01963df7-0827-7f68-8bf9-c50c1f0a18c5" title=""><figcaption style="text-align: center;"><p><em>Crypto market’s liquidation heatmap (24 hours). Source: CoinGlass</em></p></figcaption></figure><p>Bitcoin and Ether (<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/ethereum-price" rel="" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/ethereum-price">ETH</a>) led the losses with $51.54 million and $49.81 million in liquidations, respectively. Mantra’s <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/mantra-price-index" rel="" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/mantra-price-index">OM</a> followed with $18.33 million, while Solana (<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/solana-price-index" rel="" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/solana-price-index">SOL</a>) and Worldcoin (<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/worldcoin-wld-price-index" rel="" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/worldcoin-wld-price-index">WCT</a>) saw $12.74 million and $11.58 million liquidated, respectively.</p><h2>Crypto market technicals show weakness</h2><p>From a technical standpoint, the crypto market’s ongoing decline is occurring after failing to break above a multimonth resistance at around the $2.6 trillion level.</p><p>The chart below shows the market retesting the upper boundary of a descending channel, a level that aligns with the 50-day exponential moving average (50-day EMA; the red wave) near $2.72 trillion. </p><figure><img alt="Cryptocurrencies, Federal Reserve, Central Bank, Bitcoin Price, Economy, Markets, Stocks, Inflation, Stablecoin" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-04/01963e02-3e38-7cd7-9581-a90275785516" title=""><figcaption style="text-align: center;"><p><em>TOTAL crypto market cap daily performance chart. Source: TradingView</em></p></figcaption></figure><p>Historically, every test of this trendline and moving average since January has resulted in a rejection and further decline. The market has also remained below the 200-day EMA, currently at $2.81 trillion, reinforcing the bearish bias.</p><p>The Relative Strength Index (<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/here-s-3-ways-the-relative-strength-index-rsi-can-be-used-as-a-sell-signal" rel="" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/news/here-s-3-ways-the-relative-strength-index-rsi-can-be-used-as-a-sell-signal">RSI</a>) is hovering around 47, below the neutral 50 mark, suggesting weakening buying pressure.</p><p>If the pattern holds, the market risks dropping toward the lower boundary of the descending channel near $2.2 trillion. This level also served as a strong support zone in late 2023, adding to its significance.</p><p>Until the market breaks decisively above the 50-day EMA and the descending trendline, the setup favors continued downside toward $2.2 trillion.</p><p class="post-content__disclaimer" type="">This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.</p><template data-name="subscription_form" data-type="markets_outlook" label="Subscription Form: Markets Outlook"></template></p>
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<p style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 15px; width:240px;"><img src="https://images.cointelegraph.com/images/840_aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy5jb2ludGVsZWdyYXBoLmNvbS91cGxvYWRzLzIwMjQtMDgvODAzMjgxMmQtMWQ1MC00NmFiLWI5NjUtYTBjYjZkZDQxYTYz.jpg"></p><p><p style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 15px; width:240px;"><img src="https://images.cointelegraph.com/images/840_aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy5jb2ludGVsZWdyYXBoLmNvbS91cGxvYWRzLzIwMjQtMDgvODAzMjgxMmQtMWQ1MC00NmFiLWI5NjUtYTBjYjZkZDQxYTYz.jpg" alt="Why is the crypto market down today?"></p><p>The combined valuation of all cryptocurrencies has fallen by around 3.65%, or $97 billion, in the past 24 hours to reach $2.58 trillion on April 16. <figure><img alt="Cryptocurrencies, Federal Reserve, Central Bank, Bitcoin Price, Economy, Markets, Stocks, Inflation, Stablecoin" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-04/01963db9-a99f-719c-9a44-e53937de9304" title=""><figcaption style="text-align: center;"><p><em>TOTAL crypto market cap four-hour performance chart. Source: TradingView</em></p></figcaption></figure><p>The top catalysts that are driving the crypto market lower today include:</p><ul><li><p>An ongoing tech sector slump.</p></li><li><p>Reports about China potentially dumping $16 billion in Bitcoin.</p></li><li><p>Liquidations in the futures market.</p></li><li><p>Weakening technicals.</p></li></ul><h2>Export restrictions on Nvidia hurt stocks, crypto </h2><p>Today, the crypto market’s declines mirrored similar downside sentiment in the broader risk market. </p><p>Wall Street sentiment turned sour after the Donald Trump administration imposed new restrictions on Nvidia’s chip exports to China, stoking fears of another intense tariff cycle. </p><p>On April 16, Nthanksaq 100 futures dropped over 2.30%, while European markets sank, with chipmakers ASML Holding NV falling more than 7% on weaker demand expectations. The market turbulence spilled over into cryptocurrencies, a sector that has shown a consistent correlation with US stocks since May 2020.</p><figure><img alt="Cryptocurrencies, Federal Reserve, Central Bank, Bitcoin Price, Economy, Markets, Stocks, Inflation, Stablecoin" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-04/01963dcf-938f-7443-bc8d-326a393e8aed" title=""><figcaption style="text-align: center;"><p><em>TOTAL crypto market cap and Nthanksaq 100’s 52-week correlation coefficient. Source: TradingView</em></p></figcaption></figure><p>Meanwhile, gold markets continued acting as a global safe haven in times of economic uncertainty led by <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-markets-relatively-orderly-amid-trump-tariff-chaos-nydig" rel="" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-markets-relatively-orderly-amid-trump-tariff-chaos-nydig">Trump’s zigzag tariff policies</a>. The precious metal rose to a new record high of over $3,317 an ounce on April 16. </p><p><em><strong>Related: </strong></em><a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-trader-gold-blow-off-top-xau-new-3-3-k-record" rel="null" target="null" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-trader-gold-blow-off-top-xau-new-3-3-k-record"><em><strong>Bitcoin trader sees gold 'blow-off top' as XAU nears new $3.3K record</strong></em></a></p><p>Gold has outperformed Bitcoin (<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/bitcoin-price" rel="" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/bitcoin-price">BTC</a>) in 2025 so far, rising by 26.50% year-to-date compared to BTC dropping by 11.50%.</p><figure><img alt="Cryptocurrencies, Federal Reserve, Central Bank, Bitcoin Price, Economy, Markets, Stocks, Inflation, Stablecoin" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-04/01963e06-8393-7526-b31e-e4799ec95242" title=""><figcaption style="text-align: center;"><p><em>XAU/USD vs. BTC/USD year-to-date performance chart. Source: TradingView</em></p></figcaption></figure><p>That further signals a dampening risk appetite among investors and traders alike, which is hurting Bitcoin and the broader crypto market.</p><h2>China may dump $16 billion in Bitcoin holdings</h2><p>The crypto market’s decline occurred amid reports that <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/china-selling-seized-crypto-top-up-coffers-reuters" rel="" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/news/china-selling-seized-crypto-top-up-coffers-reuters">China may start offloading seized Bitcoin</a> assets, a complete opposite of the US’s plans to employ such assets for national reserves. </p><p>Multiple Chinese municipalities are reportedly offloading around 15,000 BTC (worth $1.4 billion) through offshore exchanges to counter domestic economic slowdowns. </p><p>The report appears months after CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/china-sold-19b-bitcoin-token-seizure" rel="" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/news/china-sold-19b-bitcoin-token-seizure">claimed</a> that the Chinese government likely sold nearly $20 billion worth of Bitcoin seized from the PlusToken Ponzi scheme in January.</p><p>However, recent data shows that the government has been holding 190,000 BTC—worth over $16 billion—since January 2024.</p><figure><img alt="Cryptocurrencies, Federal Reserve, Central Bank, Bitcoin Price, Economy, Markets, Stocks, Inflation, Stablecoin" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-04/01963dea-c959-7f82-985d-9392ce0b8afe" title=""><figcaption style="text-align: center;"><p><em>China’s Bitcoin holdings chart. Source: </em><a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://bitcointreasuries.net/entities/china" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" text="null" title="https://bitcointreasuries.net/entities/china"><em>BitcoinTreasuries.net</em></a></p></figcaption></figure><p>Past <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/german-government-354m-btc-sell-off" rel="" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/news/german-government-354m-btc-sell-off">selloffs by Germany and the US</a> have shown that even modest state liquidations can spark panic and drive prices lower.</p><h2>Crypto market suffers $245M in liquidations</h2><p>The cryptocurrency market’s sell-off today coincides with a wave of liquidations in the futures market, <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://www.coinglass.com/LiquidationData" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank" text="null" title="https://www.coinglass.com/LiquidationData">totaling</a> $245.37 million in the last 24 hours. </p><p>Notably, the futures market witnessed long liquidations worth $173.83 million of the total wipeout. In comparison, short traders saw comparatively lower liquidations at $71.55 million.</p><figure><img alt="Cryptocurrencies, Federal Reserve, Central Bank, Bitcoin Price, Economy, Markets, Stocks, Inflation, Stablecoin" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-04/01963df7-0827-7f68-8bf9-c50c1f0a18c5" title=""><figcaption style="text-align: center;"><p><em>Crypto market’s liquidation heatmap (24 hours). Source: CoinGlass</em></p></figcaption></figure><p>Bitcoin and Ether (<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/ethereum-price" rel="" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/ethereum-price">ETH</a>) led the losses with $51.54 million and $49.81 million in liquidations, respectively. Mantra’s <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/mantra-price-index" rel="" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/mantra-price-index">OM</a> followed with $18.33 million, while Solana (<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/solana-price-index" rel="" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/solana-price-index">SOL</a>) and Worldcoin (<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/worldcoin-wld-price-index" rel="" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/worldcoin-wld-price-index">WCT</a>) saw $12.74 million and $11.58 million liquidated, respectively.</p><h2>Crypto market technicals show weakness</h2><p>From a technical standpoint, the crypto market’s ongoing decline is occurring after failing to break above a multimonth resistance at around the $2.6 trillion level.</p><p>The chart below shows the market retesting the upper boundary of a descending channel, a level that aligns with the 50-day exponential moving average (50-day EMA; the red wave) near $2.72 trillion. </p><figure><img alt="Cryptocurrencies, Federal Reserve, Central Bank, Bitcoin Price, Economy, Markets, Stocks, Inflation, Stablecoin" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-04/01963e02-3e38-7cd7-9581-a90275785516" title=""><figcaption style="text-align: center;"><p><em>TOTAL crypto market cap daily performance chart. Source: TradingView</em></p></figcaption></figure><p>Historically, every test of this trendline and moving average since January has resulted in a rejection and further decline. The market has also remained below the 200-day EMA, currently at $2.81 trillion, reinforcing the bearish bias.</p><p>The Relative Strength Index (<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/here-s-3-ways-the-relative-strength-index-rsi-can-be-used-as-a-sell-signal" rel="" target="_self" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/news/here-s-3-ways-the-relative-strength-index-rsi-can-be-used-as-a-sell-signal">RSI</a>) is hovering around 47, below the neutral 50 mark, suggesting weakening buying pressure.</p><p>If the pattern holds, the market risks dropping toward the lower boundary of the descending channel near $2.2 trillion. This level also served as a strong support zone in late 2023, adding to its significance.</p><p>Until the market breaks decisively above the 50-day EMA and the descending trendline, the setup favors continued downside toward $2.2 trillion.</p><p class="post-content__disclaimer" type="">This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.</p><template data-name="subscription_form" data-type="markets_outlook" label="Subscription Form: Markets Outlook"></template></p>
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https://cointelegraph.com/news/why-is-th...er_inbound