Behind bitcoin’s wild swings | S&P 500 erases gains | What ‘crypto winter’ means for Coinbase

The cryptocurrency market appeared to stabilize on Tuesday, giving investors and traders a chance to catch their breath after a wild two-week stretch.

VIEW IN BROWSER | SUBSCRIBE TUE, MAY 25, 2021 EVENING BRIEF AS OF TUE, MAY 25, 2021 • 05:14 ET DJIA 34312.46 -0.24% -81.52 S&P 500 4188.13 -0.21% -8.92 NASDAQ 13657.17 -0.03% -4.00   Most Active DOW NAME LAST CHG %CHG AAPL 126.90 -0.20 -0.16% INTC 56.87 -0.09 -0.16% CSCO 53.31 -0.08 -0.15% S&P 500 NAME LAST CHG %CHG F 12.81 -0.25 -1.91% AAPL 126.90 -0.20 -0.16% T 29.52 -0.23 -0.77% NASDAQ NAME LAST CHG %CHG AAPL 126.90 -0.20 -0.16% AMD 77.86 +0.42 +0.54% TSLA 604.69 -1.75 -0.29%   EDITOR'S NOTE The cryptocurrency market appeared to stabilize on Tuesday, giving investors and traders a chance to catch their breath after a wild two-week stretch.   Why bitcoin fell, however, is becoming more clear. Crypto experts and market analysts told CNBC that there is significant leverage within the digital currency markets around the world, allowing traders to buy up large amounts of bitcoin for little money down.   That leverage, however, can cause serious problems when the market dips, and traders may have to exit their positions to avoid losing even more money. That can create significant sell-offs, like bitcoin saw earlier this month.    "You get this crowd factor — everybody's liquidation price tends to be somewhat near everyone else's — when you hit that, all of these automatic sell orders come in, and the price just cascades down," Brian Kelly, CEO of BKCM, told CNBC.   Where the cryptocurrency market goes from here remains to be seen. The space has seen increased institutional adoption over the past year, which could help limit volatility going forward.   However, a previous bitcoin price crash in late 2017 and early 2018 led to a "crypto winter," and that could happen again, according to Mizuho. If it does, it could mean the price of cryptocurrencies remain stuck in neutral for a while and that user activity and revenue for exchange companies like Coinbase take a big hit.    Jesse Pound | CNBC Markets Reporter @jesserpound TOP NEWS  S&P 500 erases gains and ends day slightly lower as market rally stalls DC attorney general sues Amazon on antitrust grounds, alleges it illegally raises prices Bitcoin traders using up to 100-to-1 leverage are driving the wild swings in cryptocurrencies Moderna says its Covid vaccine is 100% effective in teens, plans to seek FDA OK in early June Republicans plan to send Biden nearly $1 trillion infrastructure counteroffer this week Democrats, GOP team up on bill targeting China as U.S. suffers microchip shortage After George Floyd was killed, retailers pledged to put Black-owned brands on shelves. Here's how it's going How another 'crypto winter' could affect Coinbase's stock price, according to Mizuho Clean tech stocks including Sunrun offer upside amid a pullback, Goldman says Guggenheim's Scott Minerd, who called bitcoin's recent crash, warns about what comes next   TOP VIDEO Dog breeders are fetching mad coin for dogecoin's mascot — Meet the Japanese Shiba Inu   CNBC PRO These are the most hated stocks on Wall Street   SPECIAL REPORTS These are the 2021 CNBC Disruptor 50 companies Robinhood nears its biggest trade of all, an IPO, after wild year   Unsubscribe Manage Newsletters Terms of Service Join the CNBC Panel Digital Products Feedback Privacy Policy   © 2021 CNBC LLC. All rights reserved. A property of NBCUniversal. 900 Sylvan Avenue, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632 Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes. Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes and Market Data and Analysis. Data also provided by THOMSON REUTERS