Today, Shiba Inu and Dogecoin have suffered major price crashes, following a significant drop in Bitcoin’s value. Both of these popular meme coins have seen their prices fall by over 7%, leaving investors puzzled about the cause. The answer, however, lies with Bitcoin and the massive sell-offs that have affected the leading cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin’s price drop to $57,000 was triggered by sell-offs from both the US and German governments. These sell-offs caused Bitcoin’s price to continue falling, impacting the broader cryptocurrency market. According to on-chain data platform Arkham Intelligence, transactions from Bitcoin wallets linked to both governments were reported. The German government sent $29.95 million (500 BTC) to the Bitstamp crypto exchange. Typically, coins are sent to exchanges to be sold, leading to a negative market reaction and a drop in BTC’s price.
Another notable transaction involved the US government. Early Thursday, Arkham reported a transaction of 249.43 BTC, worth $14.38 million at the time. Unlike the German government’s transaction, this one was not sent to a centralized exchange but to an unknown wallet. This suggests the possibility of an over-the-counter (OTC) transaction, which avoids exchange fees.
Despite some resilience during the market crash, Dogecoin and Shiba Inu have still seen significant declines. Dogecoin’s price fell 7% to $0.11, despite a strong start to 2024. Similarly, Shiba Inu’s price dropped 8% in the last 24 hours to $0.0000153, marking an over 50% drop from its early 2024 highs. Over the past week, Dogecoin and Shiba Inu have decreased by 9.3% and 10.6%, respectively.
Whether these meme coins will continue to struggle depends largely on Bitcoin’s performance. As the pioneer cryptocurrency often leads market trends, a recovery in Bitcoin’s price could see Dogecoin and Shiba Inu follow suit.
