[Bitcoin Now] Once Fell Below 50 Million KRW... Cathie Wood Says "Correction Won't Last Long"

Bitcoin Falls to 48.89 Million Won... Lowest Since August 7 Last Year

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] The leading cryptocurrency Bitcoin briefly fell below the 50 million KRW mark. Although Bitcoin has been sluggish this month amid concerns over interest rate hikes, Cathie Wood, CEO of Ark Investment, predicted that the correction in the cryptocurrency market will not last long.

According to the domestic cryptocurrency exchange Upbit on the 11th, Bitcoin recorded 48.89 million KRW at 11:36 PM the previous day, down 5.38% from the previous day. This is the lowest price since August 7 last year. As of 2:31 PM on the same day, Bitcoin rebounded to 51 million KRW, down 0.48% from the previous day.

The cryptocurrency market has been sluggish this month. After a slight rebound to 58.3 million KRW on the 2nd, Bitcoin has been on a continuous decline. Bitcoin has fallen about 16% this month. Other altcoins are also falling. According to Upbit, among a total of 165 altcoins, only three recorded gains over the past week: Chainlink (17.37%), Augur (4.42%), and Near Protocol (1.48%).

Over the past week, BitTorrent experienced the largest drop of 31.71%. This was followed by PlayDapp (-27.81%), Arca (-25.29%), Axie Infinity (-25.20%), Milk (-24.52%), Carry Protocol (-22.90%), and Hive (-22.82%).

The sluggishness in the cryptocurrency market is interpreted as being due to the U.S. Federal Reserve's (Fed) tightening policies, including interest rate hikes. On the 5th (local time), the Fed released minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting held last month, which contained hawkish remarks from committee members. In addition to interest rate hikes and asset purchase reductions (tapering), the minutes also mentioned "quantitative tightening," known as a stronger tightening policy.

However, CEO Wood predicted that the correction in the cryptocurrency market will end soon. According to the cryptocurrency specialized media Daily Hodl on the 10th, Wood said on YouTube, "Macroeconomic uncertainties are boosting the value of the U.S. dollar, and attacks on technology and innovation are weighing down the stock market, impacting the cryptocurrency market," but added, "This situation will not last long."

CEO Wood is a prominent advocate of cryptocurrencies. At the end of last month, she predicted that institutional investors are increasing their Bitcoin holdings as part of investment diversification, which could push Bitcoin up to $500,000 (approximately 597.6 million KRW). However, she had previously forecasted in 2020 that if institutional investors raised their Bitcoin investment ratio to 4-6%, Bitcoin would reach $500,000.