FTX Fiasco: Will Bitcoin Survive the $3.4 Billion Crypto Dump?

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• Bitcoin (BTC) descends under $25K, marking its lowest since mid-June.
• The anticipated FTX crypto sale triggers apprehensions, sending ripples across altcoins, especially Solana.

Market Tremors from FTX’s Potential Liquidation

Monday’s cryptocurrency market landscape echoed concerns, predominantly driven by uncertainties surrounding the liquidation endeavors of the now-bankrupt FTX exchange. Bitcoin, the flagship cryptocurrency, witnessed a sharp decline, diving more than 2%. In a notable dip, it touched $24,963 in the U.S. morning trades, a level unseen since mid-June. Though it managed to recoup some of its losses, settling at approximately $25,140, it was still 2.6% diminished over the day.

Ether (ETH), renowned as the next behemoth in the crypto realm by virtue of its market capitalization, wasn’t spared either. Recording a decline of 3.2%, ETH was trading at a modest $1,560. Concurrently, the CoinDesk Market Index (CMI), often referenced as a broad market indicator, shrunk by 3%.

Altcoins Bear the Brunt of FTX Liquidation Concerns

Alternative cryptocurrencies, commonly termed as ‘altcoins’, bore the most substantial brunt of the market’s apprehensive stance. Solana’s SOL led this downward spiral with a significant 8% setback. Toncoin’s TON and layer 2 solution Arbitrum’s ARB mirrored these declines, while Ripple’s XRP receded by 5%.

These market movements weren’t arbitrary. The cryptocurrency community was grappling with the potential aftermath of FTX procuring legal permissions to monetize its mammoth $3.4 billion crypto cache. The fears were substantiated by a market analysis from Matrixport, a Singapore-based digital asset service provider, which forewarned of an impending “altcoin crash” linked to FTX’s prospective asset sales, possibly commencing within the week.

The alarm bells rang loudest for SOL. Reports from CoinDesk highlighted that FTX’s coffers are enriched with SOL tokens valued at approximately $1.16 billion. To lend some perspective, this amount translates to an enormous 16% of SOL’s current circulating supply, as data from CoinDesk Indices elucidates.

FTX’s crypto ensemble isn’t solely restricted to SOL. Their possession spans $560 million in BTC, complemented by a plethora of illiquid micro-cap tokens amassing hundreds of millions in value. Adding another layer to this complexity, FTX has roped in Galaxy, a noted digital asset investment entity, to steer these sales.