[Bitcoin Now] Below 50 Million Won... Cryptocurrency Market Following US Stock Market

Negative Factors Also Arise... US SEC Again Rejects Approval of Bitcoin Spot ETF

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] The representative cryptocurrency Bitcoin has fallen below the 50 million KRW mark. This is interpreted as Bitcoin falling along with the decline in the U.S. stock market. Meanwhile, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also faced negative news by once again rejecting the approval of a Bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund (ETF).

According to the domestic cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, as of 11 a.m., Bitcoin recorded 48.72 million KRW, down 1.86% compared to the previous day. It has been falling for six consecutive trading days since the 16th. Bitcoin falling below the 50 million KRW level is the first time in about two weeks since the 10th.

Bitcoin, which reached an all-time high of 82.7 million KRW last November, has been sluggish this month. It rebounded to 58.3 million KRW on the 2nd but has been on a downward trend since then. On this day, it recorded 48.72 million KRW, marking the lowest price since August 7 of last year.

The cryptocurrency market is interpreted to be shaken by the decline in the U.S. stock market. On the 20th (local time) at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 34,715.39, down 0.89% (313.26 points) from the previous day. The S&P 500 index closed at 4,482.73, down 1.1% (50.03 points) from the previous trading day. The Nasdaq index, centered on technology stocks, closed at 14,154.02, down 1.3% (186.23 points).

Recently, the synchronization phenomenon between the U.S. stock market and the cryptocurrency market has become more pronounced. On the 13th, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reported that the correlation coefficient between Bitcoin and the S&P 500 index was 0.36 during 2020-2021. The correlation coefficient between the two was only 0.01 from 2017 to 2019, but it increased 36 times after the global spread of COVID-19.

Meanwhile, the SEC rejected the approval of a Bitcoin spot ETF. According to cryptocurrency specialized media CoinDesk on the 20th, the SEC did not approve the launch of the Bitcoin spot ETF ‘First Trust SkyBridge Bitcoin ETF Trust.’ The SEC is presumed to still consider the investor protection measures for Bitcoin spot ETFs insufficient. Last month, the SEC also rejected the approval of Bitcoin spot ETFs from U.S. asset management firms Valkyrie and Crypto.com, citing investor protection reasons.