Bitcoin falls below $44,000, the cryptocurrency economy falls 4.5 percent, and traders flock to stablecoins

On Wednesday, the price of bitcoin fell below $44,000, to $43,678 per unit, as the entire crypto-economy lost billions of dollars. The overall crypto economy is down 4.5 percent at the time of writing, with a value of $2.25 trillion.

Bitcoin and the Crypto Economy Lose Billions; Crypto Fear & Greed Index Shows 'Extreme Fear' in the Air

• Bitcoin (BTC) lost 5.4 percent of its value in the last 24 hours today. Prices fell from $46K to $43,678 per unit shortly after 3 p.m. (EST). BTC is currently trading just below the $44K mark against the US dollar.

• The value of the entire crypto-economy, which includes over 12,000 crypto assets, is down 4.5 percent and is estimated to be around $2.25 trillion. Leading cryptocurrencies such as ethereum (ETH) and solana (SOL) fell 5.9 percent and 7.8 percent, respectively.
• At the time of writing, BTC has a global trade volume of $25.9 billion, while USDT has a global swap volume of $53 billion. Terra (LUNA) was the worst performer among the top ten crypto markets, falling 9.2 percent.

• Chainlink (LINK), olympus (OHM), and leo token were among the crypto assets that were unaffected by BTC's decline (LEO). Convex finance (CVX), spell token (SPELL), and axie infinity (AXS) were the worst performers during the market rout.
• The stablecoin market accounts for $58.8 billion of today's trade volume of $98.5 billion. Stablecoins account for $166.4 billion of the $2.25 trillion in market value today.
• BTC currently has a market cap of approximately $836.2 billion, while ETH has a market cap of $427.7 billion. BTC dominance has plummeted to its lowest level in more than three and a half years.
• Today, BTC dominance is 37.5 percent, the lowest since June 2018, and ETH dominance is 19.2 percent.
• At press time, BTC was trading above $44K per unit, with a 24-hour range of $46K to $43.7K on Wednesday. Stablecoins have also taken a hit, with many trading for a cent or two less than the $1 mark.
• The stablecoin USDC is now the sixth-largest market cap, with a market valuation of around $42.6 billion. USDC has received $2.6 billion in global trade volume in the last 24 hours and is currently trading at $0.99 per unit.
• According to the Crypto Fear & Greed Index, today's sentiment is "extreme fear," with a score of 24 at the time of writing.

What are your thoughts on the market action today? Please share your thoughts on the subject in the comments section below.