Bitcoin's (BTC) value has dropped to $50,000 for the first time since February, hitting a 24-hour low of $50,238 before rebounding to $52,126 at the time of writing.
The price drop triggered a massive liquidation event, wiping out $600 million worth of leveraged long positions held by traders.
The broader crypto market lost over 17% of its total market capitalization, falling from approximately $2.16 trillion to around $1.76 trillion on August 5.
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The downturn marks the largest three-day sell-off since almost a year ago, with the market shedding over $500 billion since August 2. It has been impacted by weaker-than-expected employment statistics in the United States and poor earnings of major tech companies.
Ether (ETH) was also affected by this market decline. As of this report, it is valued at $2,278, marking a 22% drop from its 24-hour high of $2,928. This is likely due to Jump Crypto's recent unstaking of approximately $410 million in Wrapped stETH (wstETH) and transferring to crypto exchanges.
Major altcoins like BNB, Solana (SOL), and XRP have fallen by 18%, 19%, and 16%, respectively.
Thus, the market turmoil has led to significant losses across major cryptocurrencies, signaling economic concerns.
It comes at a time of Bitcoin's increased recognition in politics. Senator Cynthia Lummis has recently presented a bill in the Senate to establish a strategic BTC Reserve in the US.
