Bitcoin price falls to 6-week low under $40K — What’s next for BTC?

Bitcoin price abruptly dropped under $40,000. Cointelegraph explains what is behind the price drop.

Bitcoin price fell below $40,000 for the first time since Dec. 3, 2023, as GBTC-linked selling of BTC at Coinbase continues to negatively impact investor sentiment throughout the crypto market. 

Bitcoin (BTC) fell rapidly from a price of $41,553 on Jan. 22, sinking more than 4.3% in the last 24 hours and 9.3% over the last 30 days, to hit a six-week low of $39,450, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

Bitcoin’s price performance comes as the traders reel from the unexpected result of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s approval of 11 spot Bitcoin ETF products in the U.S., with GBTC selling being blamed for the market crash.

Related: Crypto fund outflows reach $24.7M as GBTC selling impacts Bitcoin price

Grayscale deposited more than $600 million worth of BTC on Coinbase on Jan. 22, bringing the total to over $2 billion. Meanwhile, bankruptcy managers at FTX sold the entirety of its 22 million shareholding of GBTC – the equivalent of nearly $1 billion, adding to the price headwinds.

Since $GBTC conversion to #BitcoinETF investors have sold > $2 Billion

FTX bankruptcy liquidation has led to > $1 Billion in selling $BTC

GBTC discount to NAV arbitrage trade led to > $1 Billion selling to lock in profits.

All of that selling in a relatively short time and… pic.twitter.com/e0I0ms3y3D

— CJK (@CJKonstantinos) January 22, 2024

The last time Bitcoin traded below $40,000 was nearly one and half months ago, on Dec. 3, 2023, when it reached a low of $39,293, before ascending toward a 20-month high of around $49,000 on Jan. 11.

Trader and analyst Seth flagged BTC trading below $40,000, adding that he wished to see the flagship cryptocurrency produce a “daily close above 40K!”

#Bitcoin wicked below 40K to REKT all retail longs. Lets hope this support zone hold! I want to see a daily close above 40K!

Bull got to step in now! FTX sold 2/3 already in 3 days. Just 1/3 left of their Grayscale holdings. $BTC #Altcoins bleeding hard! https://t.co/V8sOA85RCa pic.twitter.com/AwU34WoFmG

— Seth (@seth_fin) January 22, 2024

Data from Coinglass shows long-position liquidations for Bitcoin topping $56 million on the day, with the tally still increasing at the time of writing. Cross-crypto long liquidations amounted to more than $208.7 million.

At the time of writing, BTC has recovered slightly and now trades at $40,245.