- Bitcoin fell below $45,000 on Monday as Evergrande's debt crisis caused turmoil in markets.
- Evergrande fears are taking a toll on crypto and other asset classes, OANDA's Jeffrey Halley said.
- El Salvador bought the dip, adding another 150 bitcoins to its holdings.
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Bitcoin fell below $45,000 in a broad sell-off of cryptocurrencies on Monday, sparked by concerns that the effect of Chinese property giant Evergrande's debt crunch would spill over into other asset classes.
After a moderately bullish weekend, the crypto market took a sharp turn downwards as bitcoin dropped by almost $2,000 and dragged the crypto market's capitalization back below $2 trillion.
Bitcoin was last trading 7% lower at $44,329 as of 7:15 a.m ET, ether was down 8% at $3,089, ada fell 12% to $2.08, Ripple's XRP fell 13% to $0.93, and dogecoin fell 10% to 21 cents, according to data from CoinDesk. Solana was down 13% at $135, according to CoinMarketCap.
Some analysts attributed the sudden dip to embattled developer Evergrande, which is snowed under by debt worth a crushing $300 billion. Fears of its failure have caused turmoil in traditional markets, sending Dow futures tumbling more than 300 points on Monday.
Global stocks broadly declined, knocked by the property developer's market fallout.
"There has been a general risk-off mood sweeping markets today," Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at OANDA, told Insider. Concerns about the potential collapse of Evergrande have spilled over into crypto and other markets, he added.
The week ahead is expected to be choppy, with a potential pullback for bitcoin to as low as $41,000, although a key support remains at $44,000, said Jonas Luethy, sales trader at UK-based digital asset broker GlobalBlock.
El Salvador took advantage of the dip by adding a further 150 bitcoins to its holdings, now amounting to 700 bitcoin or $31 million. "They can never beat you if you buy the dips," President Nayib Bukele said in a tweet.