Bitcoin has fallen to a significant new low in the current bear market.
On Saturday morning, Bitcoin dropped below $20,000, according to data from CoinMarketCap—a milestone seen as a crucial support level for the top cryptocurrency by market cap. At time of going to press, Bitcoin is trading at around $19,460, down over 6% on the day.
Although BTC breaching $20,000 is a largely symbolic barrier, experts believe a drop below this level could trigger a wave of ‘forced liquidations’, in which large-scale crypto investors will be forced to close positions on BTC derivatives products because they now possess insufficient collateral. Such events would likely only further drive down the price of Bitcoin, triggering further liquidations.
At time of publication, Ethereum, remains above the support level of $1,000, albeit fractionally so; it currently trades at around $1,020.
The total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies currently stands at around $853 billion, down over 5% in the last 24 hours.
According to Arthur Hayes, former CEO of BitMEX, $20,000 and $1,000 represent price levels for BTC and ETH, respectively, that if breached, would trigger “massive sell pressure.”
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