falls below $96k as fake TradingView chart scares investors By Investing.com

Investing.com– Bitcoin dipped on Thursday, snapping two days of gains as investors reacted to a TradingView glitch and remained cautious amid macroeconomic pressures following the U.S. Federal Reserve’s hawkish stance.

was 2.6% weaker at $95,884.0 by 06:52 ET (11:52 GMT).

It fell below the key $100,000 mark last week after Fed officials signaled a slower pace for future cuts.

Bitcoin Down As TradingView Flaws Trigger Volatility

Bitcoin pulled back on Thursday as markets apparently reacted to inaccurate chart data from TradingView.

The cryptocurrency fell toward $95,000 after social media users flagged an anomaly on TradingView’s Bitcoin Dominance chart, which falsely showed Bitcoin’s share of the total crypto market cap falling to 0%.

Although the error has been corrected, it reportedly triggered sudden trading reactions that pushed lower.

According to CoinGlass data, about $33 million in Bitcoin long positions were liquidated within four hours.

Bitcoin’s market dominance has become a key focus for traders recently as Bitcoin’s climb to new record highs has left altcoins lagging.

The dominance briefly exceeded 61.5% in mid-November before retreating, raising expectations for a potential “all-season”.

Bitcoin rose nearly 5% in the previous two sessions but failed to continue the positive momentum on Thursday as investors were cautious about the outlook for speculative assets like cryptocurrencies after the Fed indicated fewer rate cuts in 2025.

Last week, Bitcoin recorded its first weekly drop since Trump’s election victory in early November, after the Fed meeting halted the post-election rally.

The rally had pushed prices to a record high of $108,244.9, after which prices fell due to profit-taking amid macroeconomic pressure caused by the Fed rate outlook.

The central bank cut interest rates by 25 basis points, but indicated only two rate cuts for the coming year, compared to earlier expectations of four rate cuts.

This shift caused investors to reassess their positions in speculative assets like Bitcoin, contributing to its price decline.

Russia uses Bitcoin in foreign trade

Russian companies have started using Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for international payments after legislative changes allowed their use to mitigate the impact of Western sanctions, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Wednesday.

Sanctions have made trading with key partners such as China and Turkey more challenging, as local banks exercise extreme caution on Russia-related transactions to avoid attracting scrutiny from Western regulators.

In response, Russia has legalized the use of cryptocurrencies in foreign trade this year and has instituted measures to regulate cryptocurrency mining, including Bitcoin. As a global leader in Bitcoin mining, the country leverages its position to navigate economic restrictions.

Crypto price today: most altcoins edge lower

Other cryptocurrencies fell on Thursday, following Bitcoin’s decline and as demand for speculative assets remained muted after the hawkish Fed rattled investor sentiment.

World no. 2 crypto fell 3.4% to $3,367.06. Ether has been gaining in the last three sessions, but hasn’t been able to fully recover from last week’s slump.

World no. 3 crypto fell 4.2% to $2,190.

fell 3.2% and fell 5.8%, while fell 5%. Among meme tokens, 4.6% lost.

Crypto markets face potential volatility with record Bitcoin options expiration imminent

Crypto markets may face heightened volatility in the final days of 2024 as a major expiration of Bitcoin options approaches. On Friday at 8:00 UTC, 146,000 bitcoin options contracts worth nearly $14 billion will expire on Deribit, the largest event of its kind for the exchange. This represents 44% of all open BTC options and is expected to drive volatility.

Options give buyers the right to buy or sell an asset at a set price in the future. Calls enable buying, while puts enable selling.

Alongside BTC, $3.84 billion in ETH options will also expire. ETH is down about 12% to $3,400 since the Fed meeting, with Deribit dominating over 80% of the global crypto options market.

Roughly $4 billion in BTC options, or 28% of the total $14 billion in open interest, are set to expire “in the money,” delivering profits to holders. Traders can either close these positions or roll them into future contracts, potentially contributing to market volatility.

Ayushman Ojha contributed to this report.