Bitcoin (BTC) dropped below the $30,000 threshold on Tuesday, touching an intraday low of $29,300 during early U.S. trading sessions. The global cryptocurrency market capitalization fell to $1.19 trillion, declining more than 6% over the past 24 hours. Over the past week, most digital assets have recorded double-digit losses. Bitcoin’s market cap shed about $19 billion in a single day, and the asset is currently trading at $29,656, down 5% on the day and over 10% for the week.
Ethereum and Major Altcoins Slide; Stablecoin Volume Surges
Ethereum (ETH) dropped below $1,800, now at $1,757, losing 5.7% daily and 11.9% weekly. Among the top ten cryptocurrencies by market cap, Polkadot (DOT) suffered the most, down 26% over the past week. Cardano (ADA) and Dogecoin (DOGE) fell 19.3% and 18% respectively. Notably, the best-performing assets in the last 24 hours are all stablecoins, including DAI, TUSD, BUSD, USDC, and USDT. Tether (USDT) accounts for 52.18% of BTC trading pairs and 51.09% of ETH pairs. Total 24-hour crypto trading volume rose 15% to approximately $67.7 billion, with USDT alone contributing $47.7 billion, or 70.45% of all global trades, according to CryptoCompare.
Google Trends Shows Dwindling Interest: Retail Absent, Institutions Lead
Coin Metrics' latest “State of the Network” report (Issue 112) highlights that global Google search volume for bitcoin has closely followed its price movements this year, but the relative interest level has not yet surpassed that seen in late 2017. Analysts Nate Maddrey and Kyle Waters note: “This might be a sign that many retail investors and the general public were already aware of bitcoin prior to the recent price movements this year. Institutional adoption is a big reason for bitcoin’s recent successes in 2020/2021, which will not be captured easily from Google search interest.” Similarly, ethereum searches have fallen from their three-month-ago levels.
Regulatory Pressure and Chinese Mining Exodus Weigh on Market
The latest downturn is widely attributed to China’s crackdown on bitcoin mining, which forced a massive migration of hash power, and to global regulatory tightening. In the United States, the New Jersey Bureau of Securities ordered crypto platform Blockfi to stop accepting new interest account users in the state starting July 22. Blockfi CEO and founder Zac Prince assured that existing New Jersey clients can still access all platform features. Meanwhile, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) called on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to supervise cryptocurrency risks more closely.
The market’s direction remains uncertain. Will bitcoin find support or extend its decline? Share your thoughts in the comments below.