The expert did not rule out a further decline in the bitcoin exchange rate

If the course is bitcoin (BTC) will not return to the level of $88-90 thousand, then the fall may continue to $69 thousand, said Evgeny Shatov, partner at Capital Lab. He told Izvestia about this on February 26.

According to Coindesk, the BTC exchange rate is $87 thousand, on February 24, the price exceeded $95 thousand

"The recent drop in digital assets is a sharp reversal from the risk—taking that led to the growth of the cryptocurrency markets after the election of [President USA Donald's] Trump in early November. Bitcoin has fallen by about 20% since its inauguration in January, as Trump's tough stance towards allies and geopolitical rivals undermines investor confidence, and concerns about increased inflation persist," said Shatov.

According to him, a series of disappointing economic data last week was the reason that investors began to shift money into protective assets — bonds. At the same time, the yield on 10-year Treasury bonds decreased.

"Exchange-traded fund investors who bet long, which helped spur growth cryptocurrencies are retreating after the election. iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (ticker IBIT), the largest bitcoin spot fund, lost $158 million on Monday due to the outflow, while investors withdrew almost $250 million from the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund. In total, more than $956 million exited spot bitcoin ETFs listed in the United States in February, the worst month ever for this category, according to Bloomberg Intelligence," the expert added.

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In addition, market sentiment has also deteriorated following a series of recent setbacks in the industry. Among them are the hacking of the Bybit exchange and the memcoin scandal involving Argentine President Javier Miley.

"Argentine President Javier Miley has become a defendant in a complaint filed with the US Department of Justice and the SEC on charges of possible fraud with the Libra cryptocurrency. The document, prepared by the Argentine law firm Moyano & Asociados, indicates the receipt of illegal profits from $ 80 to $ 100 million and possible violations of American law," explained Shatov.

As he clarified, the Bybit hack has increased concerns about the security of digital asset platforms.

"Bitcoin broke through the $88-90 thousand zone, where it had good support on the daily data. If the asset does not return back in the near future, the decline may continue to the level of $ 69 thousand. Given the fact that the growth in the value of bitcoin has been rapid, it can fall down just as quickly," concluded the partner of Capital Lab.

In September 2024, Sergey Bezdelov, Director of the Industrial Mining Association, said at the Industrial Mining session of the Eastern Economic Forum that in 2023 href="https://iz.ru/1753423/2024-09-04/ekspert-rasskazal-o-54-tys-namainennykh-v-2023-godu-na-territorii-rf-bitkoinakh " target="_blank">54 thousand bitcoins were mined in Russia. They can bring taxes to the treasury in the amount of 50 billion rubles over the horizon of several years.