Crypto Market Sees Red as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana Dip Ahead of Halving

The cryptocurrency market began Friday covered in red. Several coins, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, fell in morning trading. It could be a sign of volatility ahead of the Bitcoin halving as traders attempt to gauge whether they’ve priced in the event correctly. And as Bitcoin goes, so too typically does the rest of the market.

The price of Bitcoin (BTC), the number one cryptocurrency by market capitalization, fell over 4% in the last 24 hours to a current price of about $63,400, according to CoinGecko.

Cooling off after setting multiple all-time high price milestones in recent weeks, Bitcoin’s fast-approaching halving is adding to volatility, with investors anxiously waiting to see if the price drops after the event—or if it surges to yet another new all-time high.

On Thursday, global investment firm AllianceBernstein predicted that Bitcoin will hit $90,000 by the end of 2024. Adding to the bullish market sentiment is surging activity around the Bitcoin ETFs that were approved earlier this year.

“ETFs now represent $4 to $5 billion in average daily BTC spot market volume,” Coinbase Asia-Pacific Managing Director John O’Loghlen told Decrypt late Thursday. “So [ETFs] are 15 to 20% of the total across the centralized exchanges globally.”

Ethereum, meanwhile, is down almost 6% over the last 24 hours to a current price of about $3,320. While investors wait to see if the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) will approve spot Ethereum ETFs, investment firms—including BlackRock and Grayscale—have filed applications with the regulatory agency.

Damping the enthusiasm around an Ethereum ETF is the concern that the SEC may be on the verge of declaring ETH a security, and the Ethereum Foundation recently disclosed that it is being investigated by an unnamed “state authority.” Fortune reports that the SEC is indeed investigating the foundation.

"On any one of these crypto tokens, it's about the facts and circumstances as to whether the investing public is anticipating a profit based on the efforts of others," SEC chair Gary Gensler told Bloomberg TV earlier this month. "We do have filings in front of us. I'm not going to comment."

Solana, recently buzzing due to surging meme coin trading activity, is down even harder today—it has plunged by 8% over the last 24 hours to a current price around $171, just days after tipping over the $200 mark for the first time in more than two years.

The network has been struggling with congestion issues in recent weeks due to demand for meme coins, but it could see some relief as the frenzy cools off—at least for now. Notable Solana meme coin prices are down, with BONK falling 9% on the day, Dogwifhat (WIF) dipping by about 6%, and Slerf (SLERF) plunging by nearly 25%.

Edited by Andrew Hayward