Bitcoin, the most valuable cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was down 2% at $18,250, following a 10% drop on Tuesday that marked its worst day since mid-August. Ether, the next largest cryptocurrency, has dropped roughly 18% since early Tuesday.
Cryptocurrencies were uneasy and fumbling for a floor on Wednesday, following a sharp and broad drop caused by concerns over the health of exchange FTX, which resulted in a rush of withdrawals and, eventually, a bailout plan with larger rival Binance.
Bitcoin, the most valuable cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was down 2% at $18,250, following a 10% drop on Tuesday that marked its worst day since mid-August. Ether, the next largest cryptocurrency, has dropped roughly 18% since early Tuesday.
The market’s attention was focused on FTT, the token linked to FTX, the financials of which have been the topic of market concern since last week. FTT fell 72% on Tuesday and fell another 5% on Wednesday to a two-year low of $4.61.
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, who indicated on Sunday that Binance would liquidate its holdings of the rival’s token owing to vague “recent developments,” added to the pressure on FTX.
Binance subsequently inked a nonbinding deal on Tuesday to buy FTX’s non-U.S. unit to assist fill what it called a liquidity shortfall, which startled market players.
The agreement between Zhao and FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried came after a week of concern about FTX’s financial health, which resulted in $6 billion in withdrawals in the 72 hours preceding Tuesday’s accord.
“The contagion will play out in the coming days and weeks,” said Zann Kwan, a board advisor at Raffles Family Office and member of the Singapore association ACCESS, which includes participants in bitcoin and blockchain, collectively known as decentralized finance (defi).
“In the defi business, Alameda is a significant market maker. More events will take place, “She was referring to Alameda Research, a trading firm created by Bankman-Fried and closely affiliated with FTX.
Bankman-Fried stated that his teams were striving to remove the withdrawal backlog, despite market concern regarding the bailout’s status and the scope of the problems.
“This could spread farther throughout the crypto market,” warned Mads Eberhardt, a crypto analyst at Saxo.