Bitcoin (BTC) drifted lower on Wednesday, paring more than half its relief bounce over the past few days. The cryptocurrency reached a low of around $29,880 during the New York trading day.
Most alternative cryptocurrencies (altcoins) declined alongside BTC on Wednesday. For example, Solana’s SOL token declined by 10% over the past 24 hours, compared with a 4% decline in BTC over the same period. GALA and ADA were down by 7% on Wednesday.
Stocks were also lower on Wednesday while gold and the 10-year Treasury yield ticked higher.
Meanwhile, WAVES outperformed most cryptos with a 21% rally over the past 24 hours. “We have to work on the algorithm” after several depeggings from the dollar, Sasha Ivanov said on CoinDesk TV’s “First Mover” program on Wednesday.
Latest prices
- Bitcoin (BTC): $30,115, −4.76%
- Ether (ETH): $1,820, −5.83%
- S&P 500 daily close: 4,101, −0.75%
- Gold: $1,851 per troy ounce, +0.45%
- Ten-year Treasury yield daily close: 2.93%
Bitcoin, ether and gold prices are taken at approximately 4pm New York time. Bitcoin is the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index (XBX); Ether is the CoinDesk Ether Price Index (ETX); Gold is the COMEX spot price. Information about CoinDesk Indices can be found at coindesk.com/indices.
Losses add up
May was a tough month for both stocks and cryptos. It appears that macroeconomic uncertainty has kept some buyers on the sidelines, which benefitted gold and other commodities so far this year.
During the final week of May, bitcoin and stocks experienced a brief relief bounce, which paused the broader downtrend in prices. Trading conditions have been choppy this year, but the overall theme remains risk-off.
In the crypto market, bitcoin declined by less than other tokens in the CoinDesk 20 list last month. That suggests a lower appetite for risk among crypto traders. Typically, bitcoin declines by less than altcoins in a down market because of its lower risk profile.
MATIC, SHIB, SOL and AVAX declined by more than 40% last month and are down by more than 60% year to date.
Lower seasonal strength
On average, over the past nine years, bitcoin has produced a positive return in June. Over the following three months, however, the odds of a strong return diminish.
Bitcoin’s negative return in May was outside of its seasonal norm, which means current market conditions are different compared with the past nine years. For example, rising interest rates, high inflation and geopolitical risks have weighed on all speculative assets this year.
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