Bitcoin slides 6.5% to $63,200 as profit-taking sweeps crypto

Bitcoin slides 5% as profit-taking sweeps crypto

Bitcoin (BTC) on Tuesday recorded a fall of 6.5% to $63,206.8, on track for its largest one-day drop in two weeks, as a wave of selling hit cryptocurrencies and other risk assets, such as stocks.

However, Bitcoin is still showing a 52% gain for the year so far, as investors have piled into US exchange-traded funds backed by spot bitcoin.

The price of the cryptocurrency was last down 5.6% at $63,650, having slipped to a two-week low of $62,966, while ether (ETH) dipped 6.7% to $3,276.

On Thursday last week, the price hit a record high of nearly $74,000, triggering some profit-taking, along with a series of US data releases that suggested the Federal Reserve may not cut interest rates this year as much as previously thought.

In the last week, bitcoin has fallen by nearly 9%, set for its largest week-on-week decline since last September, while ether has lost 13% following an upgrade to the underlying ethereum network.

However, the performance has not been as weak across the broader crypto complex. Smaller tokens, known also as 'altcoins', have drawn in flows of their own.

The solana network's sol token has gained 19% in the latest week, while avalanche's avax coin has risen by 17%, according to Coingecko.

"In light of bitcoin's recent all-time high and subsequent correction, we anticipate a period of market recalibration as investors seek equilibrium amidst unprecedented inflows into spot bitcoin ETFs," analysts at exchange, Bitfinex said in a note.

In Tuesday's US premarket, shares of Coinbase slid 5.7%, while crypto miners Riot Platforms and Marathon Digital fell 4.1% and 6.6%, respectively.

Shares in software firm and bitcoin buyer MicroStrategy dropped more than 10% and the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF fell 4.8%. Flows of capital into the 10 largest bitcoin ETFs have also slowed over the past few days.

According to LSEG data, $178 billion flowed into the major ETFs on Monday, compared with well over $400 billion on a number of days last week.