What Was Behind The Bitcoin And Ethereum Price Crash?

Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) have started September in the red, having already suffered price declines since the beginning of the month. This bearish sentiment towards the foremost cryptocurrencies and, by extension, the broader crypto market is due to several macroeconomic factors.

Recent developments suggest Bitcoin and Ethereum are still feeling the effects of the abandonment of the Yen carry trade. The Yen recently surged against the US dollar, suggesting that investors are still selling riskier assets like these cryptocurrencies to unwind their carry trade positions, which utilized the low-yielding Yen.

In an X (formerly Twitter) post, hedge fund manager James Lavish also suggested that the effects of the Yen carry trade was still in play. He noted that the Nikkei 225 had dropped by 3.7% while the USD/Yen trading pair was heading lower. 

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) Kazuo Ueda also recently made a hawkish statement that they will continue to hike rates if the economy and prices continue to perform as expected. This has also sparked fear among traders and prompted them to close their carry trade positions, thereby putting more selling pressure on Bitcoin and Ethereum. 

Bitcoin and Ethereum suffered major losses during the August 5 market crash, which was caused by the BOJ’s decision to hike interest rates for the second time since 2007. Bitcoin, on its part, dropped below $50,000, while Ethereum dropped to as low as $2,200. As such, with the effects of the Yen carry trade still in play and the BOJ hinting at more rate hikes, Bitcoin and Ethereum risk suffering further price declines. 

Furthermore, Bitcoin and Ethereum’s correlation with the US stock market has also contributed to their price crash since the beginning of September. Specifically, on September 3, over $1.05 million was wiped out from the stock market, which also sparked fear in the crypto market and led to a wave of sell-offs for Bitcoin and Ethereum. 

This was evident in the outflows that both Spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs witnessed on that day. Data from Farside investors showed that the Spot Bitcoin ETFs and Spot Ethereum ETFs witnessed total net outflows of $287.8 million and $47.4 million, respectively. 

With such a bearish outlook for Bitcoin and Ethereum, there is an urgent need for a spark that could provide bullish momentum for the crypto market. Crypto community members are hoping that the US Federal Reserve will cut interest rates at the next FOMC meeting set to be held between September 17 and 18, as that will provide some relief to the market and help inject more liquidity into Bitcoin and Ethereum. 

At the time of writing, Bitcoin and Ethereum are trading at around $57,160 and $2,400, according to data from CoinMarketCap.