The flagship cryptocurrency is under selling pressure. Bitcoin is struggling, and analysts fear that its price could sink even lower.
Both Bitcoin and Ethereum are going through sharp drops, while smaller altcoins are also suffering heavy losses following reports of a hack at Bybit. The crypto exchange lost nearly $1.5 billion. Analysts define this cyber-attack as the worst cryptocurrency theft in history.
On February 24, Bitcoin was trading near $95,893, down 0.53%. Ether, the token stolen in the Bybit hack, fell by 2%, despite showing recent gains. However, BTC and ETH remain within their usual trading ranges, where they have been fluctuating for most of the month.
Yellow Network analysts say the Bybit breach triggered a major market downturn. "As with previous failures on crypto exchanges, this event led to panic selling and liquidity disruptions. As a result, risks associated with centralized storage have increased," Yellow Network noted.
For several weeks, Bitcoin and other major tokens had been trading within a narrow range. Meanwhile, the implied volatility of BTC short-term options contracts fell to its lowest level since June 2024.
The sudden plunge in market quotes of digital assets in early February triggered liquidations of long positions. On February 2, Ether’s price collapsed by 26%. Bybit’s CEO Ben Zhou stated that the hacker gained control over one of the exchange’s autonomous Ethereum wallets. At this point, it is difficult to assess the full scale of the damages, but a significant portion of the stolen crypto assets has already been put up for selling.
According to Arkham Intelligence, the stolen Bybit funds have started moving to new addresses, where they are being sold. Elliptic analysts confirm that the Bybit hack is the largest crypto theft ever recorded, surpassing the $611 million Poly Network hack in 2021.
Adding to market concerns, JPMorgan recently issued a warning, predicting that crypto markets would soon face a further bearish stage. The bank’s experts caution that institutional demand for Bitcoin and Ethereum futures has weakened, which could put extra selling pressure on crypto assets in the near future.
