Bitcoin (BTC)fell 6% to below $62,500, while Ether (ETH) held just above $3,000. The CoinDesk 20, a measure of the world's largest and most liquid digital assets, dropped 8%. CoinDesk's Indices Bitcoin Trend Indicator (BTI), a daily signal communicating the direction and strength of bitcoin's price trends, flipped to neutral from bullish, signaling a weakening of upside momentum. According to LMAX Digital, as long as bitcoin holds above $59,000, the outlook remains highly constructive “with fresh record highs on the horizon." Some altcoins slumped, with dogwifhat (WIF) sliding 18%, Ethena Labs’ ENA down 14% and Immutable X losing 16% over the past 24 hours. Solana (SOL) fell 12% and Avalanche declined 9%, erasing its year-to-date gains.

OKX, the fourth-largest crypto exchange, said its new layer-2 blockchain, X Layer, has gone live on its public mainnet, joining other major crypto companies in starting its own distributed network. X Layer, previously known as X1, makes use of Polygon's Chain Development Kit (CDK), a customizable toolkit that lets developers build their own chains by making use of zero-knowledge technology. The firm joins other major cryptocurrency exchanges that have pursued their own layer-2 networks over the past year. In August, Coinbase launched its “Base” blockchain, which is built with Optimism’s OP Stack. Kraken is reportedly also interested in creating its own layer-2 blockchain.

Bitcoin miners may have underperformed the cryptocurrency this year, but their CEOs remain upbeat as the reward halving approaches, broker Bernstein said in a research report on Monday. The underperformance has been caused by strong moves in spot bitcoin and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which have sucked "retail liquidity" from mining stocks, and by concerns about the impact of the halving on miner revenues, analysts Gautam Chhugani and Mahika Sapra wrote. The quadrennial halving is when miner rewards are reduced, slowing the rate of growth in bitcoin supply. The next halving is due around April 19-20.

The analyst who predicted bitcoin’s (BTC) bottom in November 2022 and the recent pre-halving surge to record highs has turned bearish on risk assets, including technology stocks and cryptocurrencies.

“Our growing concern is that risk assets (stocks and crypto) are teetering on the edge of a significant price correction. The primary trigger is the unexpected and persistent inflation. With the bond market now projecting less than three cuts and 10-year Treasury Yields surpassing 4.50%, we may have arrived at a crucial tipping point for risk assets,” Markus Thielen, founder of 10X Research, said in a note to clients Tuesday.

“We sold all our tech stocks last night (at the open) as the Nasdaq is trading very poorly and reacting to the higher bond yield. We only hold a few high-conviction crypto coins. Overall, we are bearish risk assets (stocks + crypto),” Thielen added.

- Omkar Godbole