BTC Drops Closer to $71K Level Following Nvidia's Stock Plunge Amid Huang's Departure
The price of Bitcoin dropped to levels not seen since Aug. 20 amid a broader technology sector selloff triggered by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's resignation announcement.
The cryptocurrency Bitcoin (BTC) reached fresh multimonth lows following the opening bell on Wall Street Thursday as downward pressure made a comeback to United States equity markets.
Key points:
- The decline in Bitcoin price reached 3.5% during Thursday's trading session as financial markets responded to news of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang's departure from the company.
- Shares of Nvidia dropped to a low of $148.80 before recovering to approximately $160, representing a 7.2% decline at the time of writing.
- Technical analysis of BTC price points to Friday's release of US Producer Price Index (PPI) figures as the upcoming major catalyst for market volatility.
Nvidia appoints interim CEO as stock plummets
Information from TradingView indicated BTC/USD declining beneath the $72,000 threshold for the first occurrence since Aug. 20, with losses for the month-to-date period totaling 7.4%.
The upheaval at Nvidia stemming from CEO Jensen Huang's abrupt resignation pulled equity markets into negative territory, with NVDA shares plummeting nearly 13% when Wall Street trading commenced.
"Colette Kress, current Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of NVIDIA, has agreed to serve as Interim Chief Executive Officer. Kress will continue to serve as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer while serving as Interim Chief Executive Officer until a permanent successor has been named," the company stated in a press release.
"The Board is initiating a search for a permanent Chief Executive Officer and will consider internal and external candidates."
Financial expert Mohamed El-Erian characterized Huang's departure as a "significant development" that would carry consequences extending beyond Nvidia's immediate operations.
"The situation will remain in the spotlight, not only as the company navigates the loss of its highly-influential founder, but also as various political investigations (formal and informal) unfold," he wrote in an analysis.
In spite of the downward pressure experienced by Nvidia's stock price, the technology-focused Nasdaq Composite Index managed to avoid substantial losses when markets opened, declining 0.6% at the time of writing.
Analyst looks to PPI release for BTC price cues
The BTC/USD pair retreated beneath its 21-week simple moving average (SMA), a level that registered at $73,078 during Wednesday's trading.
Evaluating short-term macroeconomic volatility triggers apart from the Nvidia situation, Keith Alan, cofounder of crypto trading platform Material Indicators, drew attention to Friday's scheduled US Producer Price Index (PPI) release.
Earlier in the week on Tuesday, the October print of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) exceeded market forecasts, leading markets to factor in additional interest-rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.
"Fundamentally, a cool PPI report that lowers the odds of aggressive rate hikes in December/January could easily flip this script bullish," Alan wrote on X. He added that if the PPI comes in line with market expectations, the spot price could move between nearby patches of exchange order-book liquidity.
Recent information from CoinGlass revealed BTC/USD slicing through a section of bid liquidity while 24-hour cryptocurrency liquidations reached $730 million.
