- BITCOIN’S price has crashed yet again, wiping hundreds of billions of pounds from cryptocurrency markets and sending traders into a huge panic
The world’s most popular cryptocurrency plummeted below $59,000 following the “flash crash”. This is a huge drop of more than $5,000 from the levels it was trading at just a few days ago.
It comes a week after the cryptocurrency hit a record-high price of $67,000. Bitcoin’s price drop has also had a damaging impact on a number of other cryptocurrencies, which have also seen their values fall.
The price of Ethereum slumped nearly six percent to under $4,000 over the past 24 hours, according to the latest data from CoinDesk.
Cardano’s value plummeted almost nine percent in the same period to less than $2, while Solana fell eight percent to $190.
The overall cryptocurrency market has fallen by more than $200 billion from earlier this week to below $2.5trillion.
Today’s crash is in part driven by long-term Bitcoin holders selling at a high price in order to make a significant profit.
This is something that frequently happens when there has been a spike in the price of cryptocurrencies.
But this latest drop in value will also likely persuade a wave of new buyers to invest in Bitcoin.
Freddie Evans, sales trader at the UK-based digital asset broker GlobalBlock, said the drop “had been predicted by many analysts” but believes the price could soon jump beyond $60,000 again before too long.
He said: “The markets have taken a tumble this morning after bitcoin broke the $60,000 support.
“Investors have been on edge expecting a correction as the markets have looked over leveraged.
“The drop has been predicted by many analysts and provides an opportunity to those looking to buy the dip, meaning it could be that this retracement is short lived and we head back above $60,000 before too long.
“Almost all coins are down over the last 24 hours, but we’ve seen more buyers than sellers in this morning’s session so far.”
He added: “The chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has confirmed that US bank regulators are exploring the framework to facilitate holding crypto in bank accounts to further regulate the crypto space.
“It is positive news as it shows authorities are making space for crypto and the role it will have in the global economy.”Cryptocurrency prices have surged this year, with Bitcoin alone jumping almost 400 percent in value over the past 12 months.
Earlier in 2021, experts warned cryptocurrencies remain concentrated among a small number of holders.
At the end of last year, the 10,000 biggest Bitcoin holders accounted for more than a quarter (27 percent) of the total 18.6 million coins in circulation.