Bitcoin edged higher on Thursday after the previous day’s rout, as leading indexes in Asia and Europe put in a mixed performance.
After an 11% drop on Wednesday following China’s announcement that digital tokens could not used as payment, Bitcoin rose 3% in early trade.
“There wasn’t a single catalyst behind the moves, but since its April peak there’ve been a number of headwinds for Bitcoin, and the latest Chinese move on the issue has played into broader concerns that regulators more widely could move to clamp down on the usage of cryptocurrencies, not least following the Colonial pipeline attack which led to a ransom that was reportedly paid for in crypto,” said strategists at Deutsche Bank, led by Henry Allen.
Carlo Alberto De Casa, chief analyst at ActivTrades, pointed out that gold lost 45% of its value over the space of over four years, while Bitcoin has dropped as much as 55% from its April 14 peak.
“The recent collapse of cryptos are a useful reminder to investors that e-currencies are—just like every other financial asset—subject to market movement or even riskier due to the lack of clarity of crypto exchanges, with the majority suffering from poor liquidity and an absence of fundamentals to support them,” he said.
It was also the first opportunity for traders in Asia and Europe to react to the latest minutes of the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate setting committee, when policy makers said it may be appropriate to start talking about reducing bond purchases.
In Australia as well as Europe, stocks rebounded but not by the degree to which they slumped on Wednesday. The Hang Seng slipped 0.5% in Hong Kong.
“I think the mood could sour further and risky assets could have another rough day,” said Marshall Gittler, head of investment research at BDSwiss Holding.
Of stocks in the spotlight, Cisco Systems may drop, after the networking services and equipment maker’s earnings outlook disappointed investors, with the company citing a component shortage.
Nordic Semiconductor shot up 10%, after larger rival STMicroelectronics was reported by the Italian daily MF to have started talks to buy the Oslo-listed company.
