Cryptocurrencies fell Tuesday evening as Asia futures pointed lower, triggering a wave of liquidations on the Bybit exchange.
The price of bitcoin was last lower by 6.2% at $59,504.68, according to Coin Metrics. Ether tumbled more than 8% to $2,457.61.
“Crypto markets moved down sharply, triggering a leverage driven liquidation,” said Steven Lubka, head of private clients and family offices at Swan Bitcoin. “The move appears to have been kicked off by a material drop by Ethereum, which has been struggling all year versus bitcoin.”
Bitcoin falls under $60,000
According to CoinGlass, the futures market has seen $93.52 million in long ether liquidations, which forces traders to sell their assets at market price to settle their debts, across centralized exchanges. Some $85.93 million in bitcoin liquidations have occurred.
“Leverage-driven flushes typically are great buying opportunities,” Lubka added. “And while I expect markets to buy the dip on bitcoin, Ethereum may continue to struggle until investors have a reason to be positive on the asset again.”
For the year, bitcoin is still up 39%. Ether is holding onto a more modest 7% gain.
“This is exactly the type of whipsaw liquidations and price action we see in bull markets,” said Ryan Rasmussen, an analyst at Bitwise Asset Management. “Bulls get over their skis and get wiped out, then it happens to bears, and so on. When you zoom out, a 5% move in the price of bitcoin is a blip on the radar.”
August, a typically quiet month for crypto and risk assets at large, has been particularly volatile this year. However, cryptocurrencies aren’t strangers to big pullbacks in bull markets. Bitcoin is still safely in the range its been sitting in since April – between $55,000 and $70,000.
Some market participants noted that the crypto retracement Tuesday accelerated when news broke that a federal grand jury returned a revised indictment against former President Donald Trump in his criminal election interference case in Washington, D.C.
Trump has positioned himself as the pro-crypto candidate in the upcoming U.S. presidential election. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate, has yet to share a public view on the industry.
“Traders don’t like instability, and often go risk-off to cash in such environments,” said Bartosz Lipiński, CEO at crypto trading platform Cube.Exchange. “That is probably the case for today.”
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A Tesla Cybertruck sits on a lot at a Tesla dealership on April 15, 2024 in Austin, Texas.
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Tesla shares slid more than 2% Tuesday after a report that the electric vehicle maker was halting production of Cybertruck and Model Y models for a week in Austin, Texas.
The production stoppage begins June 30, Business Insider reported, citing a staff meeting where the announcement was made. The pause, which is for maintenance on production lines, would be the third such shutdown at the Austin facility in the past year, according to BI.
Tesla is tentatively launching the robotaxi in Austin on June 22, using Model Y vehicles equipped with a new version of the company’s “Full Self-Driving” technology.
CEO Elon Musk shared a video clip on X last week of a Model Y robotaxi on a road in Austin, adding to the buzz for the promised launch.
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CNBC has reached out to Tesla for comment on the reported pause.
The two new features, announced Monday in a post during the Cannes Lions festival, will help brands better leverage discussions on the platform. The company said the tools are powered by an engine called Reddit Community Intelligence that turns “posts and comments into structured intelligence.”
Reddit announced a “listening tool” called Reddit Insights, which shares real-time insights with marketers to help them identify trends and launch campaigns. The other tool, called Conversation Summary Add-ons, allows brands to show “positive” user content under their ads.
“These are tools for a new era of community marketing, one where brands can tap into Reddit’s authenticity and connect meaningfully with high-intent communities around the world,” the company wrote.
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The company said Publicis served as the exclusive alpha tester for Reddit Insights, while Lucid and Jackbox Games were among the early testers for Conversation Summary Add-Ons.
Companies across industries are betting on new ways to harness AI to improve advertising campaigns and better engage with users. These new tools are transforming the industry while also putting pressure on some advertising stalwarts.
The industry is also currently navigating a bumpy environment spurred by the trade war with China.
During the recent earnings season, many companies warned of sluggish advertising sales in certain regions due to a rocky macroeconomic environment. Recent developments, however, have suggested a cooling of tensions between the U.S. and China.
Last month, Reddit posted strong sales and upbeat guidance. The company has benefited from recent changes to Google search and internal site improvements, which include convincing logged-out users to open accounts. Logged-in accounts are more beneficial to advertisers.
European defense technology startup Helsing on Tuesday said that it’s raised 600 million euros ($693.6 million) in a bumper new round of funding.
The investment was led by Prima Materia, the venture capital firm founded by Spotify CEO Daniel Ek and by Shakil Khan, an early investor in the popular music streaming app. Ek is also chairman of Helsing.
Existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners, Accel, Plural, General Catalyst and Saab also put money in, alongside new investors BDT & MSD Partners.
Defense and the technology behind it have become a hot area for investors lately, amid major global conflicts, including the Ukraine war to Israel-Gaza. Last week saw a further escalation of war in the Middle East as Israel launched a series of airstrikes against Iran.
In 2024, venture funding in Europe’s defense, security and resilience sector reached an all-time high of $5.2 billion, according to a recent report from the NATO Innovation Fund. The sector grew 30% in the past two years, outperforming the broader VC market, which saw a 45% decline over the same period.
Founded in 2021, Helsing sells software that uses artificial intelligence technology to analyze large amounts of sensor and weapons system data from the battlefield to inform military decisions in real time. Last year, the startup also began manufacturing its own line of military drones, called HX-2.
Helsing, which operates in the U.K., Germany and France, said it would use the fresh cash to invest in Europe’s “technological sovereignty” — which refers to attempts to onshore the development and production of critical technologies, such as AI.
“As Europe rapidly strengthens its defence capabilities in response to evolving geopolitical challenges, there is an urgent need for investments in advanced technologies that ensure its strategic autonomy and security readiness,” Ek said in a statement out Tuesday.
Helsing did not disclose its new valuation following the latest financing round, which is subject to “certain approvals,” according to a statement. The firm was previously valued at around 5 billion euros in a 450 million euro funding round led by General Catalyst last year.