Bitcoin drops below $64,000 amid equity sell-off

The leading crypto currency sold off 2%, dropping to as low as $63,890 after trading above $66,000

Crypto currencies sharply reversed early gains during the U.S. trading session on Wednesday with bitcoin dropping below $64,000 as a broad-market equity sell-off weighed on the digital asset market.

The leading crypto currency by market cap sold off 2% within an hour, dropping to as low as $63,890 after trading above $66,000 earlier in the session. At one time, bitcoin was trading at $64,000, down 0.5% over the last 24 hours.

Altcoin majors like solana SOL, cardano ADA and Chainlink’s token sold off 2%-4% over the same time period.

The action happened while key U.S. equity indexes also sold off, with tech-heavy Nasdaq slumping 2.7% and the S&P 500 dropping 1.3%. Tech megacap stocks like chipmaker Nvidia, which were the biggest contributors of the two benchmarks’ rise to new all-time highs, have been struggling in the last few days as investors rotated capital to smaller cap stocks in anticipation of more accommodating interest rates later this year. Nvidia was down 6.5% on Wednesday, though still 145% higher year-to-date.

Joel Kruger, market strategist at LMAX Group, said that the crypto rally might stall if the stock market selloff turns into a deeper correction, but over a longer time frame may provide a haven for investors fleeing stocks.

The one concern we have been flagging in recent sessions is our concern about the state of the U.S. equities market and the possibility we could soon see a major bearish reversal to allow for a healthy correction, he said in a note on Wednesday.

But even in such a case, there will be plenty of reason to be wanting to purchase bitcoin as a flight to safety asset, and plenty of reason to be wanting to pick up other crypto assets into dips on their potential for massive innovation, he said.