Just weeks before the Bitcoin halving, the world’s most popular cryptocurrency took a dip, with prices tumbling to a low of $65,480 on Tuesday, April 2, marking a decline of 5% in 24 hours and 8% over the past week.

What Happened: This drop contributed to a significant shakeout in the crypto derivatives market, with $135.3 million in Bitcoin long positions being liquidated.

With the Bitcoin halving event just 18 days away — a pivotal moment expected to cut block rewards from 6.25 to 3.125 Bitcoin — this latest price slide marks a concerning trend for the leading cryptocurrency.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin trades around $65,580, reflecting a 5.6% decline over the past day and an 8% fall over the week.

This period of uncertainty coincides with speculation around the U.S. Federal Reserve’s next move, with many expecting interest rates to remain high.

Despite the Fed’s decisions typically influencing risk assets like Bitcoin, its upcoming decision, still 29 days out, seems to have had little immediate impact on Bitcoin’s price dynamics, a departure from the norm.

According to the CME’s Fed Watch tool, there’s a 95.5% chance rates will hold steady.

Also Read: Bitcoin Could Hit $150K, Says Mark Yusko, But Not Everyone Agrees It’s ‘A Better Form Of Gold’

Why It Matters: Amid the downturn, the crypto market has witnessed a 40% surge in trading volume, totaling $141.17 billion in the last 24 hours, with Bitcoin transactions making up $41.39 billion of this figure.

The most traded Bitcoin pairs include USDT and FDUSD, with significant activity also noted in USD, USDC, and KRW transactions.

Interestingly, in South Korea, Bitcoin prices have soared to as high as $71,295, despite the global average price being just over $66,000.

The recent market turbulence has led to widespread liquidations, totaling $354.20 million in long positions across the crypto market, with overall daily liquidations, including short positions, reaching $449.81 million.

By Tuesday morning, the data indicated a nearly balanced distribution between long (49.21%) and short (50.79%) positions.

What’s Next: As the digital asset community looks ahead to both the Bitcoin halving and the Federal Reserve’s forthcoming decision, these developments are expected to be hot topics at Benzinga’s Future of Digital Assets conference on Nov. 19.

The event will likely offer valuable insights into how these factors might shape the future of Bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency market.

Read Next: Crypto Nightmare: Russian Operative Uses Tether To Fund War Machine

Image created using artificial intelligence with Midjourney.