Bitcoin racks up longest losing streak in nearly half a decade
The world’s biggest digital asset, bitcoin, fell for a seventh straight day, marking its longest losing streak since 2018, as the crypto market contends with new strains of Covid-19, inflation and a hawkish turn of the US Fed.
The steep sell-off, attributed to these factors, sent bitcoin plummeting to $40,800 at one point, marking a daily decline of 2.3%. The cryptocurrency bounced back and was changing hands at around $41,664 per token, still nearly 1% down, at 09:20 GMT.
Bitcoin’s stretch of losses became the longest recorded since the downturn of July 30 through August 4, 2018. Back then, the digital currency slid 17%, with further losses eventually seeing bitcoin tokens flatten out at $3,200 before finding support.
The latest decline comes as investors’ appetite for riskier assets is sapped due to signals that the US Federal Reserve is beginning discussions on whether to take more aggressive steps to tackle an inflation rate now at its highest in almost four decades.
Bitcoin has reportedly benefited in recent years from the Fed’s ultra-loose, emergency monetary policy since the coronavirus hit the economy, the reversal of which is seen as a new problem for bitcoin.
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