Bitcoin battles $20K as trader calls bank chaos '2008 all over again'

cointelegraph.com:

Bitcoin (BTC) struggled to reclaim $20,000 support at the March 10 Wall Street open as fears mounted over Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) contagion.

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView followed BTC/USD as it nursed fresh losses, reaching $19,569 on Bitstamp. 

The pair had seen further downside prior to the open as embattled SVB Financial saw another 60% wiped off its stock price.

In a move that mimicked crypto exchange banking partner Silvergate, SVB also began to spark knock-on effects for non-U.S. banks on the day.

For Cointelegraph contributor Michaël van de Poppe, founder and CEO of trading firm Eight, the writing was on the wall.

"First it was Silvergate, then Silicon Valley Bank and now First Republic Bank. All sinking massively on the markets. It's 2008 all over again," he summarized.

With that, U.S. equities started the March 10 session in the red as nervous traders waited to see the full extent of the SVB contagion.

Is a banking crisis beginning to hit?Japanese banks DOWN 5%-6.2%.Bank of America DOWN 6.2%Barclays DOWN 6.2%JPM DOWN 5.4%Wells Fargo DOWN 6.13%The dogs which are not barking in the night are Eurozone G-SIBs... Yet!

"Both Silvergate and Silicon Valley seemingly invested in low yield treasuries before the Fed tightening cycle... treasuries that nobody would want to buy now with "risk free" treasuries at 5% directly from the government," part of comments by trader and analyst Scott Melker stated.

Melker said that the setup was a "slippery slope."

In terms of BTC price action, Van de Poppe meanwhile eyed levels as low as $18,000 for a potential long entry. Above $20,000, on the other hand, was now a short opportunity.

Levels I'd be looking at with #Bitcoin:- Potential shorts around $20.6K and/or $21.4K.-