Anticipation builds for the upcoming release of the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index this Friday, a crucial indicator of U.S. inflation.
The cryptocurrency market experienced a significant downturn on Friday, leading to over $1 billion in liquidations for the second time this week. Bitcoin (BTC) dipped below $109,000 amidst the volatility.
Data from Coinglass reveals that total liquidations in a 24-hour period reached $970 million after initially surging to $1.5 billion earlier in the day. Ethereum (ETH) led the way with $312 million in liquidations, followed by Bitcoin at $244 million.
Meanwhile, Deribit data shows that over $22 billion worth of crypto options are set to expire on Friday. The majority of the open interest is concentrated on call options. The exchange noted this is “one of the largest” quarter-end expirations and the biggest expiry of the current third quarter (Q3).
Bitcoin’s price was hovering around $108,949, marking a 2.3% decrease over the last 24 hours and a 12.2% decline from its August peak of over $124,000, according to CoinGecko. Retail investor sentiment on Stocktwits shifted from ‘neutral’ to ‘bearish,’ while message volume increased from ‘normal’ to ‘high’ levels during the same timeframe.
Despite September’s historical weakness, Bitcoin has only lost about 1.5% so far this month.
The decline among major altcoins was spearheaded by Solana (SOL), Binance’s BNB token (BNB), and Dogecoin (DOGE). Solana’s price dropped by 5.2% over the past 24 hours, while BNB’s price fell by 5%, and Dogecoin decreased by 4.2%.
Ethereum (ETH) and XRP (XRP) both experienced declines of over 3.5%, and Cardano (ADA) slid by approximately 3.4% in the last 24 hours.
The market correction occurs as investors await the August report on the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index, a significant indicator of inflation in the United States, due later today. The data might influence expectations regarding the Federal Reserve’s final two policy decisions of the year.
Digital asset treasury (DAT) stocks experienced pre-market declines. Strategy (MSTR), the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin backed by Michael Saylor, saw a dip of around 0.16%. Bitmine Immersive Technologies (BMNR), the largest publicly traded company with Ethereum on its balance sheet, decreased by about 0.24%.
Crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) also saw a slight decrease of around 0.2%. The majority of Bitcoin mining companies, including Marathon Holdings (MARA), followed the overall crypto market downwards. MARA’s stock dropped by 0.25%.
However, shares of peer Riot Platforms (RIOT) increased by as much as 1.85% after JPMorgan upgraded its rating to ‘Overweight’ from ‘Neutral.’ The firm also raised its price target on the shares from $15 to $19, citing scale, power agreements, and expansion potential.
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