TOPLINE
The price of Bitcoin fell below $26,000 Thursday—its lowest level since June—amid a broader crypto market slump after the Wall Street Journal reported that SpaceX has taken a significant write-down on its Bitcoin holdings and sold the cryptocurrency.
KEY FACTS
The price of the world’s most valuable cryptocurrency stood at $26,400 early on Friday, down nearly 8% in the previous 24 hours and 10% compared to last week.
Earlier on Thursday evening, the price of Bitcoin had dropped even lower, to around $25,400 before a slight recovery.
Ether, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, also took a similar hit and fell to $1,680—down 6.6% in the previous 24 hours.
Other major tokens like Binance’s BNB, Cardano and Solana are also down more than 6%
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BIG NUMBER
16%. That’s how much the price of Ripple’s XRP token has fallen in the past 24 hours, significantly worse than all other major cryptocurrencies. XRP’s steeper fall is a result of a federal judge’s decision on Thursday to allow the SEC to partially appeal a ruling in its case against Ripple.
KEY BACKGROUND
Thursday evening’s crypto selloff began after the Wall Street Journal reported that Elon Musk’s SpaceX wrote down the value of its bitcoin holdings by a total of $373 million in the previous two calendar years. The company has also sold off its crypto holdings, the report added, although it is unclear when this sale happened. Musk and his companies have been a key mover of cryptocurrency prices, with the market often seeing significant movement based on the billionaire’s tweets. However, the SpaceX selloff follows a similar move by Musk’s other company, Tesla, which disclosed in an earnings report last year that it had sold 75% of its Bitcoin holdings.
FURTHER READING
A Rare Look Into the Finances of Elon Musk’s Secretive SpaceX (Wall Street Journal)
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Bitcoin Plunge Spurs Liquidations as SpaceX’s Token Sale Weighs (Bloomberg)
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