Bitcoin's value has dropped significantly recently, reaching its lowest point since late February. Despite this decline in the cryptocurrency market, experts are not blaming leveraged derivatives this time around.

On May 1, Bitcoin prices fell to just under $57,000, marking a 4% decrease for the day. Overall, the asset has seen an 11% drop from the same time last week.

While market downturns in the cryptocurrency world are not unusual, Glassnode analyst James Check believes that this situation is different from previous instances.

The 2021 bull market saw significant deleveraging events driven by derivatives, with the most recent one occurring in mid-April. However, Check noted that these events were not the cause of the recent crypto crash on May 2.

According to Check, funding rates have gradually cooled off, indicating a healthy market balance. This suggests that there was not a major futures margin call leading up to the market downturn.

Further analysis showed a decline in Bitcoin futures Open Interest over the past year, indicating a reduction in leverage relative to the market size.

Despite past deleveraging events in futures markets, Check believes that this Bitcoin sell-off was not primarily driven by derivatives. Instead, he attributes the downward trend to spot-driven weakness due to short-term selling and reduced demand.

While the crypto market has lost over $240 billion in total market capitalization in the past week, experts like technical analyst 'Rekt Capital' remain optimistic, noting a recurring re-accumulation phase in the markets.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin was valued at $57,469, with Ethereum at $2,920. Other altcoins experienced mixed results, with Binance Coin (BNB) and Toncoin (TON) showing larger losses.