Bitcoin Falls Below $105,000, Pulling MSTR Lower – XRP And Solana Drop Amid Banking Jitters

Bitcoin (BTC) fell below $105,000 in early trade Friday, extending Thursday’s selloff that was fueled by growing concerns over the stability of the U.S. regional banking sector. The decline weighed on crypto-linked equities, including Michael Saylor-backed Strategy (MSTR), which trades like a Bitcoin proxy.

Bitcoin was the top trending ticker on Stocktwits on Friday morning, followed by MSTR’s stock and Ripple’s XRP token. Bitcoin’s price dropped nearly 6% in the past 24 hours to around $104,800, according to CoinGecko data. However, retail sentiment on Stocktwits shifted to ‘neutral’ from ‘bullish’ territory as message volume remained at ‘high’ levels. 

MSTR’s stock fell as much as 1.7% in premarket trading, reflecting broader market caution. Retail sentiment around the stock improved slightly to ‘bearish’ from ‘extremely bearish’ territory, with chatter climbing from ‘normal’ to ‘high’ levels in the past day.

Meanwhile, altcoins also came under pressure. Ethereum (ETH), the leading altcoin, fell around 7.5% in the last 24 hours. Retail sentiment around the cryptocurrency slipped to ‘neutral’ from ‘bullish’ territory even as chatter remained at ‘high’ levels. Shares of Bitmine Immersion (BMNR), the largest ETH-backed digit asset treasury (DAT), slipped as much as 1.45% in pre-market trade.

Solana (SOL) and XRP each declined more than 8% over the last 24 hours. Retail sentiment around Solana’s token stayed in ‘neutral’ territory amid ‘high’ levels of chatter, while sentiment toward XRP fell to ‘neutral’ from ‘bullish’ with chatter easing slightly but remaining at ‘high’ levels.

Binance Coin (BNB) was the worst-hit altcoin among the top 10 by market capitalization, plunging nearly 11% in the last 24 hours. It also took a hit on the retail side with sentiment dipping to ‘bearish’ from ‘neutral’ territory and chatter simmering down to ‘normal’ from ‘high’ levels over the past day. 

Derek Lim, head of research at market-making firm Caladan, told Decrypt that the sell-off was likely driven by a flight to safety following renewed concern over the stability of U.S. regional banks. Disclosures from Zions Bancorp (ZION) and Western Alliance (WAL) on Thursday triggered a sharp decline in bank shares, amplifying risk aversion across markets.

“As concerns spread through the financial sector, risk appetite weakened pretty severely across all markets,” Lim said. “Naturally, crypto dropped as traders initiated a flight to safety.”

The total cryptocurrency market value dropped over 6% in the past 24 hours, while CoinGlass data indicated that more than $1.2 billion in positions were wiped out, led by $458 million in Bitcoin and $278 million in Ethereum liquidations.

Read also: Amazon Stock Heads For Yet Another Rough Week — Retail Traders Bearish As Q3 Earnings Day Nears

For updates and corrections, email newsroom[at]stocktwits[dot]com.

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