Market Wrap: Bitcoin Returns to Red, Tumbling 7% on FTX Collapse

12.11.2022

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Price Action

FTX crashed. Cryptocurrency prices tumbled on Friday as fretful investors returned to their defensive postures of earlier in the week.

Bitcoin (BTC) was recently trading at about $16,675, down nearly 7%. The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization was still hovering near $17,000 when CoinDesk reported that FTX, the once-widely revered exchange, had filed for bankruptcy after a fruitless search for a rescuer. The ongoing fallout for an already shellshocked crypto sector remains uncertain.

“The collapse of FTX and the uncertainty it has brought to the industry has been another damaging blow,” wrote Craig Erlam, senior market analyst for foreign exchange market maker Oanda. “How damaging it will be will depend on what further details appear in the coming days but right now, prices remain under pressure and vulnerable to further sharp declines.”

Ether (ETH) was recently changing hands just above $1,260, off more than 4.5%. Most other major cryptos by market value spent their day in the red, victims of FTX contagion. FTX’s FTT token recently plunged more than 30% to approach its low perch from earlier in the week.

As CoinDesk reported, the Solana blockchain’s SOL token, one of the hardest-hit digital assets this week, slid nearly 12%. SOL’s decline stemmed from speculation about Solana’s close connection to Alameda Research, a trading firm that was founded by FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. SOL was Alameda’s second-largest holding, according to Riyad Carey, a research analyst at crypto data firm Kaiko.

The CoinDesk Market Index, a broad-based index designed to measure the market capitalization weighted performance of the digital asset market, dropped 4.2%.

Equity markets continued their momentum from Thursday, especially the tech sector. The Nasdaq rose 1.8%, while the S&P 500 increased 0.9%.

Yet, consumer attitudes about the U.S. economic future slumped in November, according to the University of Michigan’s much-watched monthly consumer sentiment index. The index had risen unsteadily in recent months after falling to an all-time low in June.

Although buoyed by stocks’ recent rise, Oanda’s Erlam noted that investor “sentiment [could] cool again in the coming weeks.”