The cryptocurrency market suffered a significant downturn on Sunday, with losses extending into Monday morning, as investors shed risky assets amidst broader economic concerns. The crypto crash has wiped out $367 billion in value so far.
CNBC reports that the cryptocurrency market experienced a sharp decline in value on Sunday, with the downward trend continuing into Monday morning. Investors, facing uncertainty in global markets, dumped risky assets, leading to substantial losses across major cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, saw a 15 percent drop in the past 24 hours, while ether, the second-largest, plunged by 22 percent. The overall value of the cryptocurrency market sank by approximately $367 billion, according to data from CoinGecko.
The steep decline in crypto prices triggered a wave of liquidations in the derivatives markets, with crypto data firm Coinglass reporting over $1.13 billion in liquidations. The crypto selloff coincided with a broader slide in equities across Asia-Pacific markets. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index suffered its worst day since the “Black Monday” crash in 1987, dropping over 12 percent after the Bank of Japan announced a hike in its benchmark interest rate to a 16-year high.
In the United States, the tech-heavy Nasdaq index slid 3.4 percent last week, entering correction territory and marking its worst three-week stretch since September 2022. Major tech companies like Amazon and Nvidia contributed to the declines. The U.S. stock market’s performance was influenced by disappointing earnings reports, a weaker-than-expected jobs report, rising unemployment, and a declining manufacturing sector. The U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision to hold its benchmark rate steady and not promise a rate cut in September, which many market experts had anticipated, also played a role in the market’s downturn.
Bitcoin’s price reached its lowest level since February, briefly falling below the $50,000 threshold to $49,111.10 before stabilizing just below $51,000. Despite the recent drop, bitcoin remains up nearly 17 percent year-to-date. Ether, the native token of the Ethereum blockchain, fell to around $2,200, erasing its gains for the year. Other major cryptocurrencies, such as Binance’s BNB token and Solana, also experienced significant losses of 20 percent and 22 percent, respectively.
Read more at CNBC here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
