Bitcoin dropped 7.6% over the past 24 hours to hit £20,643.
(Picture: REUTERS)The price of Bitcoin has dropped to its lowest level since December 2020 after a selloff by investors spooked by soaring rates of inflation.
Bitcoin dropped 7.6% over the past 24 hours to hit £20,643 and has lost 59% of its value since peaking about £50,000 in November 2021. Ethereum has sunk almost 30% over the past 7 days to £1,083.
Almost $80 billion has been wiped off the value of the global cryptocurrency market in the past 24 hours, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
The plummeting prices prompted crypto lender Celsius to pause withdrawals by account holders citing “extreme market conditions.”
“We are taking this necessary action for the benefit of our entire community in order to stabilize liquidity and operations,” the company said in a statement.
It comes as figures released by the US Department of Labor on Friday showed US inflation hit a 40-year high of 8.6% in May, led by rising food and energy prices.
The hike in energy prices have led to increased mining costs for Bitcoin. The cryptocurrency consumes 0.55% of global electricity consumption, according to a study by Harvard Business review, the equivalent of the electricity consumption of Sweden.
