The current market condition at the crypto market has made traders and investors suffer heavy losses on the account that roughly $638.55 million worth of crypto positions disappeared into thin air within 24 hours.

The mass liquidation of such crypto holdings, according to data retrieved from Bybt, showed such occurred before the flagship crypto dipped from $37,300 to around $34,400 at press time.

What this means: Crypto traders have been experiencing high price swings, since the person expected to lead the U.S Treasury, Janet Yellen referred to crypto as of “particular concern” when it comes to terrorist financing and money laundering.

• The incoming finance leader believes that most cryptos are used for illicit financing.
• She raised such bias during her Senate confirmation hearing some days ago.
• At the time of drafting this report, Bitcoin’s volatility ensured that no firm market direction was in control, as Bitcoin fluctuated around $34,800.

A highly respected crypto expert, Ki-Young Ju, disclosed the ongoing activity in the ever-volatile Crypto market on his Twitter feed, by critically hinting that buying pressure has paused in recent days.

“People trade $BTC with low leverage, open interest is skyrocketing, and the long-short ratio looks neutral. Strong on-chain buying signals that have driven this bull market hasn’t come up so far. Bitcoin might retest 30k, so I don’t have any position now in this uncertain market,” Ki-Young Ju said.

People trade $BTC with low leverage, open interest is skyrocketing, and the long-short ratio looks neutral.

Strong on-chain buying signals that have driven this bull market hasn't come up so far. $BTC might retest 30k, so I don't have any position now in this uncertain market. pic.twitter.com/aSsA0M4k6r

— Ki Young Ju 주기영 (@ki_young_ju) January 17, 2021

Also, some days ago, leading the United Kingdom’s financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, recently issued a piece of stern advice on crypto investments.

The statement highlighted the risks associated with investing in Bitcoin and other leading crypto assets and warned the public there were high chances all their funds could be lost;

“The FCA is aware that some firms are offering investments in crypto assets or lending or investments linked to crypto assets, that promise high returns.

“Investing in crypto assets, or investments and lending linked to them generally involves taking very high risks with investors’ money. If consumers invest in these types of products, they should be prepared to lose all their money.”

Despite the prevailing market condition in the flagship crypto market, crypto investors are rapidly locking up their Bitcoin assets for the long haul, with 273,000 Bitcoin being taken out of circulation in the past month.

What you should know: Data retrieved from crypto analytic firm, Glassnide, revealed that “liquid” Bitcoin addresses have shed 270,000 BTCs over the past 30 days, up from 175,000 Bitcoin at the start of January 2021.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading at $34,771.82 with a 24-daily trading volume of $66 Billion. Bitcoin is down 3.63% for the day.

What this means: Increased buying pressure from large pocket investors might be the significant force driving the scarcity of Bitcoin, as about 33 institutional investors have stashed more than 1.2 million Bitcoin, or 6.5% of BTC’s circulating supply.

Recall Nairametrics, some days ago, disclosed how challenging it had become to buy bitcoins, as about 78% of BTCs in circulation (18.9 million BTCs) was held by large entities that had been holding bitcoin as long-term investments.

• Only 21 million BTCs are ever going to be produced in total, and presently, there are about 18.9 million BTCs in circulation. This shows a differential of about 2.1 million BTCs that are left to be produced, not forgetting that about 4.5 million Bitcoin have been lost forever.
• It also means that liquidity is drying up, as demand for the world’s most popular crypto hits record highs.

A study by Glassnode explained the reasons for the difficultly in buying Bitcoin:

“It is estimated that only 4.2M BTC or 22% of the total supply of BTC is in constant circulation and available for buying and selling. In other words, 78% of the circulating supply of BTC is considered illiquid.”

In a recent study by @glassnode, it is estimated that only 4.2M BTC, or 22% of the total supply of BTC, is in constant circulation and available for buying and selling. In other words 78% of the circulating supply of BTC is considered illiquid. #Crypto https://t.co/2fzMWv1GQ1 pic.twitter.com/onbjhGBho2

— BKCoinCapital (@BKCoinCapital) December 31, 2020

Data retrieved from Glassnode also revealed that “78% of the Bitcoin Supply is Not Liquid,” meaning the majority of Bitcoins available are not for sale and kept by many crypto investors for wealth preservation.

Crypto analyst, Leonidas Hadjiloizou, recently revealed via his Twitter handle that McCaleb, the co-founder of Ripple, sold 28.6 million XRP — roughly $8.5 million at the time of drafting this report — following 25 days of no sale activity after news broke of the Ripple SEC lawsuit.

Jed's Tacostand had paused XRP sales ever since the SEC lawsuit was announced. After 25 days of no sales, 28.6 million XRP was sold today. pic.twitter.com/XTMgmvDFZF

— Leonidas Hadjiloizou (@LeoHadjiloizou) January 18, 2021

At the time of writing this report, XRP traded at  $0.288355 with a daily trading volume of $5.6 billion. XRP is down 1.09% for the day.

READ: Fear of U.S Financial regulators cripple XRP, tumbles by 61%

Recall that some days ago, Nairametrics revealed Ripple’s co-founder and one of the largest owners of XRP, Jed McCaleb, gained massively from selling XRP in 2020.

Despite Ripple’s legal troubles with the powerful American financial regulator, Jed McCaleb was able to gain $411 million in XRP sales throughout 2020, bringing his total gains from selling XRP to $546 million.

READ: Winklevoss brothers become crypto billionaires

• It’s important to note that McCaleb left Ripple several years ago and went on to launch his own crypto company known as Stellar.
• As of the start of Q3 2020, he was selling an average of 1.74 million XRP daily which, at that time, was estimated to be worth $547,438.
  According to Whale Alert’s research, the co-founder still owns 3.274 billion XRP.

READ: Ripple is selling 33% of its ownership in MoneyGram

Recently, XRP has been losing value at record levels since reports that the world’s most valuable crypto exchange, Coinbase, announced that it wouldn’t allow XRP trading, in response to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission taking legal action against Ripple.