The world's largest cryptocurrency has been hit badly as stock markets around the globe tumble. Investors have fled riskier assets for safer options such as the dollar.
Bitcoin has dipped through the $30,000 barrier, fluctuating wildly after being faced with volatility in digital currencies and tech stocks. This is 23% down week-on-week and a drop of almost ten per cent in just a day.
According to the Independent, this is in line with much of the rest of the cryptocurrency market with Ethereum dropping 22 per cent in the last week, and the market as a whole losing almost 13 per cent in the last 24 hours.
Bitcoin accounts for about a third of the cryptocurrency market with a total value of close to $570bn. Last week, central banks around the world, including the US, UK and Australia, raised interest rates as they attempt to tackle rising prices.
The US Federal Reserve raised its key lending rate by half a percentage point, marking its biggest rate hike in more than 20 years. Investors are also worried about the impact of the war in Ukraine on the world economy.
