Topline
The prices of bitcoin and ether fell to six-month lows Monday morning, continuing a sell-off of major cryptocurrencies that has dashed more than $1 trillion in value from the market since November.
Bitcoin’s value was down on Monday.
Key Facts
The price of bitcoin, which makes up nearly 40% of the crypto market and is the most valuable cryptocurrency by market capitalization, fell to around $33,500 Monday morning, down more than 6% from 24 hours before.
Ether, the second most valuable cryptocurrency and around 16% of the overall market, fell more than 11% to around $2,200.
Both cryptocurrencies are at their lowest points since July last year and have shed around half their value since reaching record-breaking highs in November.
Other major tokens—including XRP, cardano, solana and Binance’s BNB—have experienced similarly steep drops over the last 24 hours, falling between roughly 8% and 12%.
The losses continue a days-long rout for major tokens like bitcoin (down 23% over the last week), ether (35%), Binance’s BNB (32%), cardano (31%) and solana (45%).
Key Background
The Federal Reserve triggered a crypto sell-off when it indicated it may combat inflation by moving faster to remove pandemic-era stimulus and raising interest rates. The market has been in broad decline since reaching record highs of more than $3 trillion in November and more than $1 trillion has been wiped off it in the weeks since. It is now worth some $1.59 trillion, according to CoinGecko.
Further Reading
‘Looking Ugly’: Crypto Market Crash Intensifies After $300 Billion Sell-Off—How Low Can Bitcoin Prices Go? (Forbes)
Major Cryptocurrencies—Including Bitcoin, Ethereum—Plummet After Fed Minutes Signal Looming Interest Rate Hikes (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2022/01/24/bitcoin-ether-plummet-to-6-month-lows-as-crypto-crash-wipes-hundreds-of-billions-off-market/