# Why is the crypto market down today?

**Published by:** [Masih](https://paragraph.com/@4545f/)
**Published on:** 2023-08-19
**URL:** https://paragraph.com/@4545f/why-is-the-crypto-market-down-today

## Content

The worst week for the cryptocurrency market since November 2022 is coming to an end as its capitalization attempts to stay above $1 trillion. The major down-move this week occurred on Aug. 17 following Elon Musk's SpaceX reportedly writing off its Bitcoin stash as well as several other major reasons. Bitcoin, which controls nearly 50% of the total cryptocurrency market, reacted negatively to the SpaceX news as the selloff worsened amid a "bloodbath" of mounting liquidations across the crypto derivatives market. Related: Why did Bitcoin drop? Analysts point to 5 potential reasons As of Aug. 18, around 176,300 traders had liquidated $1.04 billion worth of contracts, with long exits making almost 80% of it. In other words, a long squeeze forced traders to sell at a loss to avoid even bigger losses. The decline across the crypto market mirrored losses in the global stock market. Notably, the MSCI World Index, which includes large and mid-cap stocks from twenty-three developed countries, dropped sharply on Aug. 17, as shown in the chart below. This coincided with mounting worries about China's economy and higher interest rates. The economic slump in China has raised concerns that their central bank will weaken the yuan to boost its economy — something that could negatively impact the crypto market, particularly in the short term. The last time China devalued the yuan in August 2015, BTC price dropped by 23% in the following two weeks, while the crypto market lost 27% in the same period. https://cointelegraph.com/news/why-is-the-crypto-market-down-today

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