Cryptocurrencies were in the red once again as Bitcoin and Ethereum dropped below key support levels, mirroring the volatility in the equity markets.
Bitcoin fell by 2.94% to US$29,150, trading below its key support level of US$30,000.
Ethereum on the other hand lost 4.49% to change hands at US$1,955, also below its key support level of US$2,000.
Cryptocurrencies tend to follow the movements of global equity markets, in particular, the tech-heavy Nasdaq in the US.
The Nasdaq was down 4.73% to 11,418 points as both equity and cryptocurrency markets remained extremely volatile.
Naeem Aslam, a market analyst at Avatrade, said that Bitcoin starts to “rally more in those times when traders favour riskier assets”, highlighting the correlation between cryptos and traditional stocks.
According to Ipek Ozkardeskaya, a senior analyst at Swissquote, “Bitcoin remains under the pressure of financial tightening conditions and is still vulnerable to a further sell-off”.
Prior to the war in Ukraine, Bitcoin was viewed as a 'safe haven' asset in the same way as gold and used as a store of value in times of inflation.
However, according to Aslam, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has failed to show Bitcoin as “digital gold”.
In some of the altcoins, Solana was down 9.64% to US$51.33, Dogecoin was down 4.75% to US$0.08483 and Cardano was down 8.49% to US$0.516.
