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Bitcoin (BTC) remained stable above $29,500 the day after a tumultuous ride in the crypto markets, as investors evaluated lackluster U.S. economic growth figures and the most recent problems in the banking industry.

BTC, the top cryptocurrency by market cap, was trading at approximately $29,600, representing a 4% increase over the previous 24 hours. During Thursday's U.S. morning trading session, BTC experienced a minor dip following the release of the Commerce Department's report showing a lackluster 1.1% Q1 GDP growth, falling short of the expected 2% annualized rate and disappointing personal consumption data. However, it quickly recovered after the dip.

Ether (ETH), the second-biggest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization, mirrored the behavior of BTC by surging nearly 3% in the last 24 hours and trading at approximately $1,920. The CoinDesk Market Index (CMI), which gauges the general performance of the crypto market, showed a daily increase of over 6%.

Bob Baxley, the CTO of Maverick Protocol, a DeFi platform, believes that the recent stability of Bitcoin is a testament to investors' confidence in its ability to maintain its value despite any volatile market conditions.

“Bitcoin and other crypto assets have clearly been performing as the sort of safe haven that many had hoped this technology class would become,” Baxley told CoinDesk in an email.

Baxley observed that Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and other major cryptocurrencies experienced a surge in value on Wednesday, just a few hours after the struggling regional bank First Republic saw its shares drop by almost 50%. “I suspect that much of this has to do with a broadening realization among more people and organizations of the core value proposition of bitcoin and [ether], among others – namely, that they’re decentralized, censorship-resistant forms of value that lack counterparty risk,” he said.

“It’s hard not to see this value at a time when banks are looking as unsteady as they are now," he said. He added that such a boom likely has something to do with “intensifying expectations of more bailouts of wobbling financial institutions – or what those in the crypto asset community refer to as the ‘money go brrr’ scenario.”

He anticipates a potential change in policy by the US Federal Reserve as their current hawkish stance on monetary policy "risks inflicting serious damage."

The CME FedWatch Tool is indicating a high probability of 87% for a 25-basis point interest rate hike at the upcoming Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting next week.

On Thursday, the equity markets experienced a rally, as the S&P 500 index surged by 1.9% and the Nasdaq Composite, which is heavily weighted towards technology stocks, jumped by 2.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) also rose by 1.5% over the course of the day.

Source Coindesk