What happened
The value of cryptocurrency Nexo (NEXO -0.69%) has fallen 14.1% in the last 24 hours as of 3 p.m. ET on Tuesday. The upcoming Ethereum Merge continues to be a hot topic among traders, and Nexo may be caught on the wrong side of that trade.
So what
Nexo announced yesterday that it would halt some trading around The Merge and will also support any proof-of-work forks that emerge. There doesn't seem to be any big news items today, but last week Nexo said it would buy back $50 million of tokens, which helped push its value higher. Today seems to be giving back some of those recent gains.
Crypto markets have been falling over the last few hours, and it doesn't help that stocks are down over that time. Investors may be reacting to volatility, or The Merge trade that pushed Ethereum and crypto higher ahead of The Merge may be coming unwound. Many exchanges are pausing trading of some assets in the next two weeks in order to maintain stability during The Merge, which is something traders may want to get out in front of.
Now what
I do think the crypto market is maturing quickly, and The Merge is a piece of that. But the process takes awhile, and speculation can be rampant ahead of big moves. I'm not surprised to see a token like Nexo's drop with the uncertainty ahead, and I also wouldn't be surprised if it falls further if the crypto market stays in its current depressed state.