US banks plummeting to levels worse than March crisis could spell good news for Bitcoin

• Four largest US banks are facing YTD losses ranging from 13% to 23%.
• The last time this happened, Bitcoin shared a negative correlation with the stock markets, which is the case this time as well.
• Whale accumulation noted in the past month suggests the impending rally might not have much to do with the banks’ losses.

The US banks’ crisis that occurred in March this year proved to be a boon for Bitcoin and the crypto market. One of the biggest reasons behind this was the lack of correlation the cryptocurrency shared with US stock markets. While the banks have relatively stabilized since then, the present market conditions spell a similar scenario taking shape once again.

US banks take a hit again

Four of Wall Street’s biggest banks in the US - Citi, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America are presently at their worst levels since the banking crisis. The year-to-date performance of these banks shows that, at the moment, they are trading at the lowest price, even lower than what they were in March this year.

While Citigroup is observing a 14% decline since the beginning of the year, Goldman Sachs stands right behind, noting a 13% fall. Morgan Stanley has surpassed these two to register losses extending to 16% YTD, while Bank of America is leading the charge with a 23% crash.

US Banks’ performance YTD

While the current condition of the US economy does not support a bullish narrative for either the banks or the stock markets, the situation is quite different in the case of the crypto market. Just like March, at the time of writing, Bitcoin is sharing a starkly negative correlation with the S&P 500 Index as well as NASDAQ at -0.80 and -0.78, respectively.

Bitcoin correlation with stock markets

Back in March, as banks faced significant pressure, Bitcoin price rallied along with the rest of the crypto market, and coincidentally, BTC is rallying at the moment, too. Up by nearly 22% in the last six days, the cryptocurrency has pulled up the rest of the altcoins along with it, bringing the total crypto market capitalization to $1.244 trillion.

If this pattern is considered, then the losses of US banking institutions are translating to profits for crypto investors, suggesting that the flow of money into this sector is not solely influenced by the United States. 

However, the extended losses of banks alone may not be the cause of Bitcoin’s rally.

Bitcoin price could be up due to other factors

Knowing the crypto market’s susceptibility to volatility, one single factor cannot be ruled as the only reason for a rally. In the past couple of days, BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF’s appearance on DTCC’s website, followed by delisting and subsequent relisting, has also been considered a major cause of the rally.

Furthermore, a key group of investors can also be one of the reasons for the sudden rise. The whale addresses holding between 100 and 1,000 BTC, which have seen accumulation since September 21. In the span of a month, this cohort has noted an increase of 50,000 BTC worth $1.7 billion, bringing their holdings to 3.9 million BTC from 3.85 million BTC. 

Bitcoin whale accumulation

In the past, such bouts of accumulation have also resulted in a rally, and given their influence, it would not be a surprise if Bitcoin simply witnessed an impending burst of price increase.

Thus, at the moment, all the factors seem to be contributing to the crypto market’s growth, which is good news for investors. But if the latter factors disappear from the board, the increasing losses of banks might prove to be a boon for the crypto market.