Bitcoin (BTC) fell below $59,000 late Thursday in a broad crypto sell-off driven by macro risk-off sentiment, analysts said.
The world's largest cryptocurrency briefly dropped to a low of around $58,200 earlier in the day before rebounding to $59,890 as of 11:50 p.m. Thursday, according to The Block's price page. Ethereum (ETH) slid 3.8% over the past 24 hours to $1,555, while XRP lost 3.6% to trade at $1.03.
Asian equities also fell sharply on Friday morning. South Korea's Kospi declined over 8%, triggering a circuit breaker. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index dropped 4.9%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slid 2.3%.
Min Jung, research associate of Presto Research, told The Block that bitcoin is trading in lockstep with equities, coming under pressure during the Asia session as broader risk assets sold off.
"From here, the key question is whether BTC can reclaim $60,000 quickly. If $60,000 turns into resistance, traders will likely focus on the $54,000-$56,000 structural support zone,"said Jeff Ko, chief analyst of CoinEx.
