Bitcoin, Ethereum Trade Lower As Whales Show Signs Of FOMO

Crypto markets turned sharply lower on Wednesday, erasing the previous day’s gains as traders looked for a “strong” catalyst following Bitcoin’s halving event.

BTC is down 3%, changing hands around $65,000, with ETH trading at $3,175, data from CoinGecko shows.

Michael Van de Poppe, CIO & founder of MN Trading Consultancy, told The Defiant that as Bitcoin consolidates, it paves the way for the altcoins to gain momentum.

“I'm frankly not expecting much movement from Bitcoin, I think that we'll see a strong altcoin period at the end of Q2 or at the beginning of Q3,” he said, adding that “what Bitcoin needs is a strong catalyst that could push momentum.”

Whales show signs of FOMO

Research firm Santiment noted that wallets holding between 1,000 and 10,000 BTC (valued roughly at $66.7 million to $667 million) show signs of "Fear of Missing Out" (FOMO).

“The critical whale segment that holds between 1K and 10K $BTC is a cornerstone behind the current surge, amassing an additional 266K $BTC since the onset of 2024," Santiment said. The figure represents 1.24% of Bitcoin's total circulating supply, worth over $17 billion at current prices.

CoinGlass reported a total of $52.46 million in liquidated positions in the last 12 hours, with the largest liquidations coming from Ethereum and Bitcoin. Altcoin HBAR saw liquidations amounting to $7.58 million, attributed to the token's recent volume surge, surpassing the $1 billion mark. Additionally, PEPE liquidations amounted to $2 million.

The data also shows a large number of sell orders placed between $67,000 and $67,500, suggesting that this is a resistance zone where sellers are ready to exit their positions.

Over the weekend of April 12-13, when Iran launched its missile attack on Israel, CoinGlass data revealed that over $1.4 billion in long positions were liquidated.

Crypto Stocks Rally

Crypto stocks surged on Tuesday, with cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase’s (COIN) rising by 11% and Bitcoin mining companies like Marathon Digital (MARA) and Riot Platforms (RIOT) both experiencing a 5% rise in their stock values.

U.S. stocks rallied for a second session on Tuesday as a solid set of corporate earnings eased worries about higher rates.