According to a recent report from CoinDesk, the cryptocurrency market has seen a significant decline in prices over the last few hours. Bitcoin (BTC) has dropped by around 3% in the last 24 hours, while other major altcoins such as XRP, BNB, and SOL have also experienced a decrease of 4-5% during the same period. The broader cryptocurrency market, represented by the CoinDesk 20 Index (CD20), has lost approximately 3.3% of its value during this time. This sharp drop has resulted in BTC’s performance being down 1.7% for the week, while the CD20 is down nearly 5%.
This decline in prices has been accompanied by a significant liquidation of long positions on centralized cryptocurrency exchanges, with over $300 million worth of positions being liquidated in the last 24 hours. Additionally, $38.8 million worth of short positions were also liquidated during this time, according to data from CoinGlass.
The drop in prices appears to be part of a larger trend of traders reducing their exposure to risk assets, as they anticipate the impact of President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs that are set to take effect on April 2. This trend has been further exacerbated by the release of core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) data, which came in higher than expected on Friday.
Investors are also reacting to recent data that shows a decline in consumer confidence and future expectations, which has led to a flight to safety. CoinDesk Data’s latest stablecoin report reveals that gold-backed cryptocurrencies have seen an increase in market capitalization, reaching over $1.4 billion in March.
Interestingly, while the overall market is experiencing a bearish trend, gold-backed cryptocurrencies such as PAXG and XAUT have actually seen an increase of 0.7% to over $3,100. These tokens have also outperformed BTC and the CD20 index, with gains of 18% and 28% respectively, since the beginning of the year. This suggests that investors are turning to these stablecoins as a safe haven during times of market volatility.
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