Bitcoin, crypto fall amid reports of 3AC’s court-ordered liquidation
Bitcoin was trading below US$20,000 in late morning trade in Asia on Thursday as reports of a court-ordered liquidation of Three Arrows Capital (3AC) added to fears of a contagion in crypto.
See related article: Three Arrows Capital lines up for liquidation
Fast facts
The world’s largest cryptocurrency fell to as low as US$19,937.79 in the past 24 hours before paring losses to trade down 1.4% at US$20,065.62 in late morning trade in Asia on Thursday, according to CoinMarketCap.
Ethereum fell by more than 5% to US$1,089.82 in late morning trade, while Solana was the biggest loser among the top 10 cryptocurrencies, falling over 7% to trade at US$32.99.
Dogecoin was the only token in the top 10 to post some gains. The memecoin rose over 2% in the past 24 hours to trade at US$0.0685 in late morning trade.
Crypto’s market capitalization as tracked by CoinMarketCap was down over 2% to US$893 billion.
This comes after a court in the British Virgin Islands, where 3AC is domiciled, reportedly ordered a liquidation. The news led to crypto prices plummeting overnight as it could exacerbate any contagion risk.
Meanwhile, government data out of the U.S. showed its economy contracted deeper than anticipated in the first quarter amid a record trade deficit.
After registering steep losses on Tuesday from a lackluster U.S. consumer confidence report, Wall Street closed up mostly unchanged over the 1Q data.
The technology-focused Nasdaq Composite closed 0.03% lower with the S&P 500 lower by 0.07%, bringing its year-to-date losses at about 20%.
See related article: Wall Street seems to sense opportunity in distressed crypto markets