Just over a week since the launch of spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs), cryptocurrency markets are struggling.
Over the past week, Bitcoin (BTC) has lost more than 10% of its value, according to CoinGecko. The largest cryptocurrency by market cap is now priced at $41,002.
Last week, it was close to $49,000.
The long-awaited Bitcoin ETFs have been a huge success — with BlackRock’s iShares ETF amassing more than $1 billion in assets under management.
So why are prices falling? It likely has to do with investors cashing in on their gains from the initial hype of ETFs.
Some analysts said the ETF’s approval had already been “priced in.” This likely means that traders and investors are unlikely to continue buying after approval becomes official.
The rest of the cryptocurrency market has been hit hard over the past week as well. Solana (SOL) lost more than 7% of its value in the past week and was priced at $92.38.
While Avalanche (AVAX) fell more than 14%, trading at $32.82. Both assets performed very well in December as they attracted the interest of institutional investors.
Meanwhile, Ethereum (ETH), the second largest cryptocurrency, lost 8% of its value in the past week. It is now priced at $2,466.
After the US Securities and Exchange Commission approved 10 Bitcoin ETFs, the cryptocurrency space is now waiting for the Ethereum ETFs to drop.
Wall Street’s top regulator on Thursday pushed back the deadline for a decision on Fidelity’s proposed spot ETF to March 5, sending the asset’s price lower.
The entire cryptocurrency market is now worth $1.7 trillion, having fallen by 2.8% in the past 24 hours.