The value of bitcoin dropped by almost 15 percent on Tuesday to as low as $11,182.71 from an opening price of $13,585.90, according to data from Coindesk.
All three major cryptocurrencies by market cap – Bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple – suffered major loses.
For the first time in over a month Bitcoin dropped below the $11,500 level after momentarily soaring up past the $20,000 level only a weeks ago.
Bitcoin plunged over 40%
Bitcoin’s plunge on Tuesday brought the value of the cryptocurrency down by more than 40 percent over the past month.
Other major cryptocurrencies also suffered. Ethereum dropped by as much as 18 percent, trading as low as $1,090.96, while Ripple dropped at least a quarter to around $1.37.
Although cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and can have extreme fluctuations, the declines have been reported as being far more extreme than normal for the market.
Coindesk reported that “all the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization are in the red today,” with “the overall market cap for all tokens is at $584.9 billion at press time – down from a high of $832 billion on Jan. 7.”
In this context, ‘in the red’ mans running at a loss.
Cryptocurrencies’ market cap value fell dramatically
The decline in the value of the digital coins wiped millions off the market cap of cryptocurrencies and comes following reports that China plans on restricting access to trading platforms that allow centralized trading and talks that South Korea may impose new regulations on the currency.
Mati Greenspan, senior market analyst at eToro, told CNBC in an email that “the pullback seems to be coming from a lack of buyers in Asia.”
“Japan and South Korea usually dominate this market but over the last few days, the volumes have been dropping steadily. This morning the combined volumes from these two countries dropped below 30 percent.”
He added: “The Koreans and Japanese are used to paying a premium of 20 percent or more per coin. It seems they’re getting wise and waiting for the market to even out before buying in again.”
Video – Cryptocurrencies
This Market Business News video, which is aimed at lay people, contains a brief description of what cryptocurrencies are.