Bitcoin held steady, while Ethereum slumped Wednesday as the stock market recorded its worst trading day since late 2022.

What Happened: The World's largest cryptocurrency Bitcoin was little changed after a sharp rebound to $67,000 was undone by sell-offs later. The apex cryptocurrency has trended lower this week, dropping 5.7%.

Ethereum sold off heavily, despite an impressive debut by spot ETFs in the U.S. stock market, validating some of the earlier forecasts made by analysts.

More than $250 million locked in derivatives was liquidated in the last 24 hours, with long liquidations equating to $219 million. Ethereum led the pack with $82 million in liquidations.

The slump caused a sharp decline in futures Open Interest for the two assets, with Ethereum witnessing a steeper 5.4% drop.  

Downside bets for Ethereum surged in comparison to bullish bets in the last 24 hours, signaling a bearish mood.

The Cryptocurrency Fear & Greed Index continued to flash "Greed" as of this writing.

Top Gainers (24-Hours)

The global cryptocurrency market stands at $2.37 trillion, following a drop of 1.17% in the last 24 hours.

The stock market tumbled on Wednesday, recording its worst performance since 2022. The broad market index S&P 500 fell 128.61 points, or 2.31%, to end at 5,427.13. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite plunged 3.64% to close at 17,342.41. The blue-chip index Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 1.25% to finish at 39,853.87.

The slump comes following big sell-offs in shares of tech giants Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) amid their second-quarter earnings reports. Tesla plummeted 12.3% during the session, its worst since 2020, while the Google parent company declined 5%.

Analyst Notes: Prominent cryptocurrency researcher Ali Martinez underlined the importance of $66,000 as a "crucial" support level for King Crypto, holding which would bolster its chances of rising to new all-time highs.

This support level, at around $66,000, is very crucial for #Bitcoin. If it holds, we could see new all-time highs! pic.twitter.com/BfLNAAsRne

— Ali (@ali_charts) July 24, 2024

In an earlier X post, he noted that Bitcoin needs to cross $66,450 for the sentiment to flip bullish.

Another widely followed cryptocurrency influencer Sheldon The Sniper expressed a bullish outlook for Ethereum, stating that the corrections are just to test HODlers' resolve. "ETH to 4,000 in the next week or two," the analyst forecasted.

$ETH CHART $ETH has not looked this bullish in a long time
This is the pull back to make sure you are in if you are a $ETH believer , There is 2 major zones to buy . First Zone has been hit , 2nd might get hit , possibility it won't . $ETH to 4K in the next week or two . These... pic.twitter.com/PJL3zObgvP

— Sheldon The Sniper (@Sheldon_Sniper) July 24, 2024