By Geoffrey Smith
Investing.com -- Bitcoin prices rebounded from a fresh 18-month low in morning trading in Europe on Tuesday but remained under pressure from concerns about rising U.S. interest rates and the fallout of crypto lender Celsius Network's collapse.
By 5:50 AM ET (0950 GMT), Bitcoin was trading at $22,440, having earlier bottomed at an intraday low of $20,859. That's still down over 7.0% from its level late Monday in New York.
The bounce has averted - at least for now - an event that could trigger much wider selling. Microstrategy (NASDAQ:MSTR), a software-consultancy-turned-crypto-hedge-fund, faces a margin call on a $205 million loan it took from Silvergate Capital in March.
If Bitcoin dropped below about $21,000 that would trigger a "margin call" or a demand for extra capital, MicroStrategy President Phong Le said in a webcast in May.
MicroStrategy founder and CEO Michael Saylor has been one of the most extreme Bitcoin bulls in the market for some years, famously using a national TV appearance to urge Americans to sell or mortgage everything of value to buy Bitcoin.
MicroStrategy said in May that it had over 95,000 of 'unencumbered Bitcoin' - worth over $2 billion even at current prices - that would be available to meet any such call. Even so, the prospect of more forced sales of crypto is unsettling for many, coming at a time when prices for almost all digital assets are crumbling as the market prices in every-higher U.S. interest rate.
The Federal Reserve, whose two-day policy meeting starts later Tuesday, is now expected to raise the target rate for Fed Funds by 75 basis points to a maximum of 1.75% on Wednesday. Overshooting inflation in Europe has also led markets to factor in higher rates from the European Central Bank and Bank of England.
The crypto space, in general, is still reeling from the liquidity crisis at lender Celsius Network, which suspended withdrawals on Monday. Celsius; a one-stop-shop network that lends, acts as custodian, and executes trading strategies for clients, had over $10 billion in assets under management before its liquidity position deteriorated sharply last week. It is rumored to have made heavy losses on the Terra Luna network, which collapsed in May, and on derivatives tied to Ethereum.