Many investors could not keep up with the abrupt collapse of the cryptocurrency market and Bitcoin on April 2nd morning.
Around 09:15 AM on April 2, 2024, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) suddenly plunged from the 69,000 USD area to 66,000 USD on Binance, down to 5.4% compared to 24 hours ago.
Earlier on the afternoon of April 1, BTC also had a dump from 70,400 USD to 69,000 USD.
At the time of writing, the values of the other major cryptocurrencies had all decreased from 6% to 12%.
Over 200 million USD worth of derivative orders have been liquidated in the cryptocurrency market in the previous four hours, with the majority of the transactions involving BTC, ETH, and smaller altcoins, according to data from CoinGlass. This indicates that 84.5% of the orders are lengthy.
As of right now, there is no concrete information explaining the most recent declines in value of the leading cryptocurrency. On the trading day of April 1 (UTC-5), however, Bitcoin spot ETFs saw an outflow of 85.7 million USD, with Grayscale’s GBTC leading the way with BTC traded up to 302 million USD, according to information from Farside Investors.
This indicates that Bitcoin ETFs broke the pattern of four days in a row of inflow last week, raising the possibility that they may resume their dominant outflow days from March 18 to 22.
With just three weeks left before the April 20 Bitcoin halving event, Bitcoin has now recorded its biggest monthly and quarterly candle close in history.
Memecoin madness is breaking the Bitcoin Halving cycle
It appears that in a “weird” bull market, liquidity has skipped a few steps and moved directly from Bitcoin to memecoins, according to analysts.
Analysts in the cryptocurrency space are referring to the current Bitcoin halving cycle as the “weirdest” bull market ever, as it came after an untimely peak in the price of Bitcoin and a significant rush into memecoins.
In a message to his 171,000 followers on X, Chainlink community liaison Zach Rynes, also known as “ChainLinkGod,” stated on April 1st, “this bull market has been weird.”
In the past, during bull runs, liquidity would first pour into Bitcoin, then into Ethereum and other currencies with large capitalizations, and so on.
Nevertheless, Rynes noted that the market “skipped a couple of steps that we have seen with previous cycles,” with flows from Bitcoin to memecoins, which is “a bit unusual.”
On April 1, the total valuation of memecoins reached $70 billion, mostly due to increases in recently released tokens like Book of Meme (BOME) and Solana-based “dogwifhat” (WIF), as well as older memecoins like PEPE and Bonk (BONK).
Memecoin speculation has also grown quite active on the Coinbase layer-2 network Base.
One example is the recently introduced Base-native token DEGEN, which has increased by an astounding 2,800% in just the last month. Unofficial tokens known as memecoins were given out to users of the decentralized social network Farcaster.
Rynes added that market fundamentals are not playing much of a role at the moment:
“There’s some retail money that’s entered, but nowhere near the levels we’ve seen before; we’re in an attention economy based on specific narratives, not real fundamentals.”
On April 1, Ethereum instructor Anthony Sassano had a similar opinion, stating that “I can say with full confidence that this is, by far, the weirdest bull market crypto has ever had” following about ten years in the industry.
He continued by saying that until the whole market rises at once, retail would not be present “in any meaningful way”:
”Not these isolated sector-specific pumps that are very obviously pushed by crypto natives and just involve a hot ball of money rotating around.”
The fact that Bitcoin achieved its all-time high before the halving is another element contributing to the peculiarities of this market cycle. The year after the halving has historically marked the arrival of the Bitcoin all-time high.
The asset reached $73,734 on March 14 and the April 20 BTC Halving is now only eighteen days away. The pre-halving retrace is already expected to be completed, according to analysts.
Technical analyst Moustache pointed out on April 1 that Bitcoin has recovered a significant Fibonacci ratio level from earlier cycles, but this time it was before halving.
Singapore imposes stricter user protection regulations and expands its crypto regulations
Singapore is enacting restrictions that seem to be more onerous for businesses offering digital payment token (DPT) or cryptocurrency services.
The Payment Services Act and its ancillary laws will be amended, the Monetary Authority of Singapore said on Tuesday, extending the reach of regulated payment services.
The announcement states that the changes should gradually go into effect starting on April 4. The MAS specifically said that the new regulations will facilitate cross-border money transfers between nations “even where moneys are not accepted or received in Singapore,” as well as custodial services for DPTs and the transmission of DPTs.
According to the MAS, “the amendments will empower MAS to impose requirements on DPT service providers relating to user protection, financial stability, and countering the financing of terrorism and anti-money laundering.”
For those undertaking operations under the enlarged regulatory scope, the MAS also stated that it will provide “transitional arrangements.” However, they must notify the regulator within 30 days of April 4 and submit a license application within six months of that date.
Consumer protection
The MAS outlined the Payment Services Act’s requirements for DPT service providers’ consumer protection procedures in a guideline that was made public on Tuesday.
Some procedures include keeping accurate books and records, safeguarding the integrity and security of the clients’ assets, and separating their assets. On October 4, the guideline is anticipated to go into force.