Bitcoin loses nearly half its value in crypto-market bloodbath
The cryptocurrency market has extended its losses, as major digital assets are trading 13 to 25 percent below previous day's prices. Digital-currency locomotive bitcoin has now slid close to $10,000.
The $10,000 milestone is 50 percent below the $20,000 peak that bitcoin touched just one month ago. Ethereum also plunged below the psychological $1,000 mark, and is on track to lose all its gains in 2018, which reached 100 percent just four days ago.
Ripple was down over 20 percent, trading at $1.15. This is a three-fold collapse from the $3.65 peak it hit on January 4. Bitcoin cash, cardano, litecoin, neo and other top cryptocurrencies have also slipped by up to 25 percent from the previous trading session.
Cryptocurrencies are falling on reports that authorities in China are planning to widen their crackdown on trading in the country. A Chinese state-run newspaper Securities Times reported on Tuesday that Beijing will target over-the-counter trading, offshore sites used for centralized trading, and peer-to-peer trading of large transactions.
Bloomberg also reported that China will bar access to local and offshore platforms that provide centralized trading, and target traders who provide bids and offers for big-scale trading.
Another BRICS country, Brazil, has joined China and India in taking action against cryptocurrencies. The South American country has prohibited local investment funds from buying digital cash.
The world's most popular cryptocurrency bitcoin was trading at $10,065 as of 11:04am GMT on Wednesday.
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