🔴😞 Market Analysis: 3-12-18
The crypto market is reeling as a dramatic selloff swept across major tokens in the late hours, sending Bitcoin plunging more than 5% and erasing the gains from last week’s rally. The immediate spark came from hawkish noise out of the Bank of Japan, which sent short-term Japanese yields surging to their highest since 2008, fortifying the yen and intensifying pressure on leveraged crypto positions in Asian trading hours. In tandem, reports circulated that leading Bitcoin-focused public companies—once the darlings of the ETF trade—were dumping holdings, fueling fears of a broader leverage unwind. Meanwhile, digital asset funds like Filecoin and Chainlink tumbled in sympathy, each falling double-digits as risk appetite evaporated from the market almost instantaneously.
With Bitcoin once again skating on thin ice, market sentiment has shifted to high alert. Some see echoes of previous late-cycle reversals, when a chill in the macro winds triggered cascading liquidations across the entire crypto complex. Yet, every crisis has its opportunity: for longer-term investors, the current panic may shake out weak hands and reset valuations, offering entry at more reasonable levels. For now, all eyes are on the Fed’s next move, as well as the actions of macro whales and sizeable treasuries—should they resume accumulation, the cold snap could thaw rapidly. But for the moment, nerves are frayed, and the digital gold rush is on pause.
- Japanese rates spike, pressuring risk assets globally.
- Major crypto firms unwind leveraged positions.
- Cross-asset risk aversion is spreading from Asia to global markets.