Bitcoin and Ethereum Are Both Down at Least 8.5% the Past Day. Should You Buy?

Bitcoin is down nearly 10% over 24 hours, while Ethereum has declined 8.5% over the past day at press time.

The past 24 hours have been brutal for the overall cryptocurrency space, which in aggregate is down 7.5% at time of writing according to CoinMarketCap. Leading that decline are the two largest cryptos by market value -- Bitcoin and Ethereum -- which combined make up more than than half of the $1.66 trillion cryptocurrency sector.

The crypto tracking website shows that Bitcoin (BTC) is down nearly 10% and Ethereum (ETH) is off 8.5.% over the last day, and both projects are currently discounted at least 44% from last fall's price peaks. While each has struggled to gain consistent pricing traction in 2022, they have been consistent performers in the past.

Last year, Bitcoin produced a 70% return for investors and was dubbed "asset of the decade" for its staggering annualized returns of more than 220% spanning the 10 years prior, while Ethereum soared more than 500% in 2021.

Despite the current downward trend there are reasons to be optimistic about the long-term prospects for both of these crypto assets.

The future remains bright for both BTC and ETH

According to digital analytics firm Glassnode, which tracks activities across the major blockchains, the current percentage of Bitcoin's circulating supply stored on cryptocurrency exchanges is at 12.85% -- the lowest level since February 2018.

This is significant because the offloading of Bitcoin from trading exchanges has steadily continued since March 2020, demonstrating a willingness by investors to not sell BTC and instead store it in their own digital wallets. Since there are only 21 million Bitcoin that will ever be produced, of which 19 million have already been created, there will be an asset shortage as offline hoarding continues, and that supply shock will drive the price higher.

Regarding Ethereum, its developers are entering the final stage of moving from the blockchain's original proof-of-work (PoW) consensus model to a more eco-sustainable, proof-of-stake (PoS) approach to validate network transactions. One benefit of this migration will be that a percentage of every newly minted ETH coin will be burned, reducing its overall supply and making the asset more deflationary.

This multi-year upgrade has been dubbed the Ethereum Merge and is intended to lower transaction fees and shorten settlement times while boosting speed and network scalability. The long-awaited enhancement is expected to go live in the fall and have a positive impact on ETH's long-term value proposition.

Should you buy BTC and ETH?

It's important to remember that this is not financial advice. Investors should do their own research and only invest funds they can afford to lose. The single greatest truth in wealth building is "buy low, sell high," especially when it comes to high-quality opportunities like these.

Both assets are Mercedes-class projects currently trading at Hyundai-level discounts of more than 44% from their peaks. Given the strong underlying fundamentals and future prospects for Bitcoin and Ethereum, don't be surprised when their respective market values catch up with their actual values.