Bitcoin plunges to 18-month low
The world’s top cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, slid below $25,000 per token on Monday morning, plunging more than 43% so far this year from nearly $49,000 in March.
At 08:15 GMT, it was trading at $24,800 per coin, down 9.8% for the day.
Bitcoin has been declining for nearly 12 straight weeks now, dragging smaller crypto tokens down with it.
Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency, lost nearly 8% of its price, trading around $1,340, a 15-month low. Dogecoin, Stellar, Uniswap, XRP, Solana, Polkadot, Polygon, Cardano, and Litecoin were also down, losing up to 15% over the last 24 hours.
Overall, global cryptocurrency market capitalization fell more than 8% in 24 hours, to around $1.08 trillion. Consequently, crypto lending firm Celsius was forced to pause withdrawals and transfers, citing “extreme market conditions.” The price of Celsius’ own token also dropped on the news, plunging 45% to $0.21 per coin.
Crypto analysts say the prices are suffering from the unstable macroeconomic environment, as people are not eager to take risks while inflation in the US and other countries is soaring. However, some experts predict that the global adoption of Bitcoin will grow when the geopolitical situation stabilizes.
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