Bitcoin, ether sink to multi-month lows as recession worries take hold

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Bitcoin and ether tumbled on Monday to multi-month lows as worries over a possible US recession in the wake of soft data gripped financial markets and triggered a rush to safe-haven assets.

Crypto markets have benefited this year after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved an exchange-traded fund to track the spot price of bitcoin and ether.

More recently, however, bitcoin has fallen alongside other assets, including global equities, in a broad selloff as investors fear that a US recession could be on the horizon, with rising geopolitical worries also weighing. The cryptocurrency is off nearly 20 per cent from its March 2024 high.

“It’s a big reminder that Bitcoin and crypto in general are risk assets and sit at the pointy end of the risk spectrum,” said Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG.

Bitcoin sank to $53,091, its lowest since late February, when it last fetched $54,112. Meanwhile, ether slid to its weakest since mid-January and was last down 16 per cent at $2,300.

Sycamore said Bitcoin is testing trend channel support at the $54,000/$53,000 area and needs to hold that level to “prevent further capitulation towards $48,000.”

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