Crypto market suffers the biggest drop this month; why is the market bleeding?

The crypto market experienced a major sell-off on January 7 amid rough economic data. The price of Bitcoin dropped drastically after topping $100K the day prior. The dip also affected major cryptocurrencies and caused over $150 million in liquidations.

As of the time of publication, Bitcoin’s price dropped by more than 4% in the last 24 hours and hovers around $97,000. Ethereum also experienced an 8% dip in the last 24-hour period, while Solana dropped by more than 7% and XRP dropped by around 5%. Among the top digital assets, Avalanche (AVAX), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Chainlink (LINK) plummeted more than 9% each.

Crypto market correction leads to major liquidations

Crypto Market Suffers Biggest Drop In A Month

The crypto market experienced its largest sell-off in nearly a month today. Bitcoin dropped over 5%, Ethereum fell around 8%, and Solana and XRP also saw declines. The total market cap decreased by 7.6% to $3.6 trillion, with $507… pic.twitter.com/f8nXKWbDat

— The Wolf Of All Streets (@scottmelker) January 8, 2025

The crypto market correction led to major liquidations, as data from CoinGlass showed that $388 million worth of long and short positions were nuked over the last 24 hours. The data also revealed that $230 million worth of liquidations came in the last four hours alone, with long positions making up the vast majority of the liquidations at $212 million.

The data indicated that the figure was lower than the single largest 24-hour or hourly liquidation seen in the last month, which was around $856.7 million. The figures also revealed that more than 129,900 cryptocurrency traders were liquidated over the past 24 hours. The CoinGlass data highlighted that the largest single liquidation order was an ETHUSDT position on Binance, valued at more than $11.9 million.

Crypto stocks MicroStrategy and Coinbase also dropped by more than 9% and 8%, respectively, while Bitcoin miners Core Scientific and MARA Holdings fell more than 6% and 7%, respectively.

U.S. job openings data causes share drop in crypto prices

“TLDR on why the market is dipping: US data came in hot, causing a bond yield spike. ISM index higher than expected, JOLTS job openings increased. We’re in the “good data is bad data” phase of the market for risk assets ahead of FOMC in 2 weeks.”

~ Miles Deutscher, Crypto analyst.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released new data on Tuesday showing 8.1 million job openings at the end of November, the highest level since May 2023 and an increase from the 7.84 million released in October.

Data from the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) also revealed 5.27 million hires were made during the month, down from the 5.39 million made during October. Tuesday’s report also disclosed that the quitting rate, a sign of confidence among workers, dropped to 1.9% from 2.1% in October. The hiring rate also dropped to 3.3% from the 3.4% seen in October. Consensus Cloud Solutions also revealed that it expects the U.S. economy to add 163,000 jobs, down from the 227,000 additions seen in November.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell described the signs of slowing in the labor market as “loser than pre-pandemi,” as the quitting and hiring rates fell lower than before the pandemic.

The drop in crypto prices also came amid a sudden increase in the 10-year U.S. Treasury yield, which climbed six basis points to 4.69%. Data released by the Institute for Supply Management indicated faster-than-expected growth in the U.S. service sector in December, which added to concerns about stickier inflation.

Bank of Corp. strategists also predicted that traders could return to perceiving strong economic data as negative because it signaled that the Fed will need to keep rates elevated for longer.

The central bank signaled last month that although it was cutting rates a third time, it may make fewer rate cuts in 2025 than investors had anticipated. Rate cuts have historically had a positive effect on Bitcoin, while hikes have had a negative impact.

Thomas Tzitzouris at Strategas disclosed that this is bad news, and it is not just for Treasuries. With corporates trading at their tightest levels of the cycle adjusted for default risk, we’re entering a “danger zone” for both risk assets and safe havens.

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