Crypto prices slip after Bitcoin's most volatile week in two years

Analysts say Bitcoin's $30,000 threshold will become 'a major resistance' if prices continue to consolidate below that mark over the next few days

Cryptocurrencies trended lower Saturday in the wake of the collapse of TerraUSD and the most volatile week for Bitcoin trading in at least two years.

The price of Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, slipped around 2.5% by noon in London to hover near the $29,000 mark, according to pricing by Bloomberg. Ether fell back below the $2,000 threshold shortly after midday, re-entering the lower ground after having previously recovered in Friday trading.

The wipeout of algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD and its sister token Luna knocked more than $270 billion off the crypto sector’s total trillion-dollar value. The weekly net change in Bitcoin volatility was the highest in the two years since Bloomberg first began recording data.

Altcoins did not escape the declines on Saturday, with Solana down 4.8%, Avalanche down 6.4% and Polkadot down 4.5%.

“Multiple headwinds have given market players almost nowhere to hide in any asset class this week,” said Coinbase Institutional’s Brian Cubellis and David Duong in a report Friday, adding that volumes on its exchange were the highest since January’s crypto sell-off. 

“Interestingly, despite larger volatility than during the sell-offs in January or December, volumes are still somewhat lower in comparison, which suggests lighter positioning as well as potentially decreased interest from retail due to a difficult market environment,” they wrote in the note.

The analysts said Bitcoin’s $30,000 threshold will become “a major resistance” if prices continue to consolidate below that mark over the next few days. “If things were to deteriorate further the next line of support would come at around $20,000 which was the all-time high in the previous 2017/2018 cycle,” they added.