BTC appears set for re-test of February’s lows

Crypto markets continue to bleed lower, with bitcoin (BTC) leading the way following Strategy’s (MSTR) disclosure of a small BTC sale on Monday.

“The funny thing is that the forced selling in crypto hasn’t even started yet,” wrote Wazz on X Tuesday morning. Whether right or wrong, Wazz, in the space of a few words, put to rest the many “hot takes” dismissing Strategy’s 32 BTC sale as a nothingburger.

Yes, Strategy suffered through the 2022 bear market and survived, but the digital asset treasury industry was far different and far smaller then. Whether the current iteration — in many cases (but not all), with questionable capital structures — can withstand the opposite of “number go up” remains to be seen.

One hour ahead of the opening for U.S. stocks Tuesday morning, bitcoin was trading at $69,000, down 4.5% over the past 24 hours. The February 6 low was $60,000, but that was a very momentary wick to the downside. The $63,000 area is probably closer to where markets can start thinking “re-test” of the bottom.

Strategy’s sales, for the moment, have placed bitcoin in the position of a laggard in the crypto market. Ether (ETH) is lower by just 0.5% and solana (SOL) by 2.5%.