[News Brief] Apr 22, morning | Bitcoin and Ethereum May Post Their Biggest Weekly Drop Since the FTX Collapse

Bitcoin and Ethereum May Post Their Biggest Weekly Drop Since the FTX Collapse

According to PANews, citing CoinDesk, Bitcoin fell 17.3% this week and Ethereum dropped 22%. Both assets are on track to record their largest weekly declines since the FTX collapse in November 2022.

Based on TradingView data, the total crypto market capitalization declined by about $390 billion this week, remaining just above $2 trillion. According to CoinGlass, leveraged position liquidations during the same period totaled about $7 billion, of which roughly $5.7 billion were long liquidations.

Downward pressure appears to have been driven by a combination of factors, including Strategy’s small-scale Bitcoin sale, shrinking Bitcoin ETF assets, and concerns that capital is rotating from crypto into AI-related investments. Strategy previously disclosed that it sold 32 BTC for the first time in about four years.

Stronger-than-expected U.S. employment data also weighed on the market. Some analysts said expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts may weaken, while concerns over renewed tightening could grow if inflation remains elevated.

Bitcoin Trades 12.6% Below Its U.S. Election Day Close

Odaily, citing Decrypt, reported that Bitcoin fell to around $60,619, trading about 12.6% below its U.S. election day close of roughly $69,355 on November 5, 2024.

Bitcoin extended its weekly decline and briefly fell below $60,000. In October last year, it had reached a peak of $125,689, before roughly $19 billion in liquidations swept through the crypto market, sending it sharply down from the $121,000 range to the $106,000 range.

In January this year, Bitcoin ETFs recorded more than $1.5 billion in net outflows. Strategy, led by Michael Saylor, sold 32 BTC worth about $2.5 million at the end of May.

President Trump recently said he would not disappoint the crypto industry. The GENIUS Act was previously signed into law last year, and the CLARITY Act passed a committee vote in May, though the legislative process has not yet been completed.

BTC Breaks Above 61,000 USDT

Source: Odaily

According to OKX market data, BTC broke above 61,000 USDT and traded at 61,011.5 USDT.

Its 24-hour decline narrowed to 0.59%.

Glassnode Co-Founder: Bitcoin Has Entered a Valuation Zone Historically Associated With Market Bottoms

According to Wu Blockchain, Glassnode co-founder Rafael said Bitcoin has entered a cycle valuation zone historically associated with market bottoms.

Based on on-chain valuation models, he explained that Bitcoin’s high-probability bottom range lies between CVDD and the realized price, or about $46,000 to $54,000. In the event of an extreme sell-off, he identified an additional support zone between $35,000 and $40,000.

Rafael added that Bitcoin’s drawdowns have become progressively shallower across cycles, suggesting the likelihood of a deeper decline has decreased. On a rebound, he identified the first major recovery zone at $75,000 to $79,000.

He emphasized that the analysis is not a price forecast and that Bitcoin’s bottom cannot be determined with certainty in advance.

DWF Labs Co-Founder: BitMine and Strategy Could Trigger the Biggest Market Collapse

DWF Labs co-founder Andrei Grachev said on X that BitMine and Strategy could potentially trigger the biggest market collapse in crypto history.

He said he hopes such a scenario does not occur, but added that traders should consider what strategies they would take if BTC falls to the $10,000–$20,000 range.

Five Major Korean Crypto Exchanges Report 57 Hacking and System Failure Cases Over the Past Six Years

PANews, citing Yonhap News, reported that South Korea’s five major crypto exchanges recorded a total of 57 hacking and system failure incidents over the past roughly six years, with related compensation totaling about KRW 7 billion.

According to the report, from 2020 through April 2026, incidents at Upbit, Bithumb, Coinone, Korbit, and Gopax totaled 26 at Upbit, 14 at Bithumb, 8 at Gopax, 6 at Coinone, and 3 at Korbit.

Bithumb compensated about KRW 2.5 billion this February in connection with a mistaken Bitcoin transfer incident. Upbit reportedly paid about KRW 790 million for a hacking incident in November 2025 and about KRW 3.2 billion for a system outage on December 3, 2024.

Each exchange showed different standards for recognizing incidents and compensation methods. Gopax classified asset list display errors as system failures, while Bithumb recognized outages when core services were unavailable for more than 10 minutes.

Compensation related to system failures was reported at about KRW 3.21 billion for Upbit, about KRW 3.2 billion for Bithumb, and about KRW 49 million for Coinone. Korbit and Gopax were reported to have made no related compensation payments.

Address Believed to Belong to Plasma Team Deposits 150 Million XPL to Binance

According to Odaily, Onchain Lens reported that an address believed to belong to the Plasma team (0x410...12b6) deposited 150 million XPL to Binance five hours ago.

The deposited tokens were valued at $9.64 million. Exchange deposits are generally interpreted as an on-chain signal suggesting potential selling activity.

Early Ethereum Investor Rebuys ETH

According to Lookonchain, an early Ethereum investor who sold 60,000 ETH and 9,442 wstETH a week ago has recently started buying ETH again.

Over the past two days, the investor spent $55.8 million to buy 35,723 ETH at an average price of $1,563.

The investor had previously sold 60,000 ETH at around $2,040, and the market is speculating that additional purchases may follow.

Anonymous Whale Wallet Transfers 134.86 Million USDC to Aave

According to Whale Alert, an anonymous whale wallet transferred 134,867,398 USDC, worth about $134,842,660, to Aave.

The transaction was confirmed on the Ethereum network, and such large-scale stablecoin movements may indicate DeFi deposits or liquidity management activity.

1,006 BTC Moved From Kraken to Anonymous Wallet

According to Whale Alert, 1,006 BTC, worth about $60.94 million, was moved from Kraken to an anonymous wallet on the 6th (local time).

Large Bitcoin withdrawals from exchanges to external wallets are generally interpreted as a possible sign of easing sell pressure, though the actual holding purpose has not been confirmed.