Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum are crashing
(Picture: REUTERS)The total value of all cryptocurrencies has fallen below the $1 trillion mark for the first time in 18 months.
The “crptocrash” gathered pace today with the more than 13,400 active coin slumping 12.7 per cent to a combined $987.4 billion, according to website Coingecko.com.
More than $200 billion has been wiped out of the cryptocurrency market since the start of the weekend.
The biggest and most famous cryptocurrency Bitcoin, which accounts for almost half the total, slumped 17.7 per cent to $22,871.08, its lowest level since December 2020.
Ethereum fell even further, losing more than a fifth of its value to $1,195.14.
The global cryptocurrency market peaked at $2.9 trillion in November 2021, but it has tumbled this year, losing $1 trillion in value in the last two months alone.
Rising inflaton and interest rates and the threat of recession has spooked investors and sent them scurrying for cover with less risky assets.
Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “As inflation proves to be an even trickier opponent to beat than expected, Bitcoin and Ether are continuing to get a severe bruising in the ring,
“They are prime victims of the flight away from risky assets as investors fret about spiralling consumer prices around the world.”
Meanwhile cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius Network has halted withdrawals because of “extreme market conditions”
The platform added:“We are taking this action today to put Celsius in a better position to honour, over time, its withdrawal obligations.”
Sharesxin crypto exchange platform Coinbase shares were down more than 14 per cent in early trading in New York.
