Bitcoin has dropped below $20,000 for the first time in 18 months, and the decline shows no signs of slowing down.
At 9:06 a.m., the largest cryptocurrency was down 7.1 percent to $18,993, after briefly touching $18,732, its lowest price since December 2020.
It has lost about 28% of its value since Friday, or more than half of its worth this year, and is down 70% from a high of $69,000 in November.
In 2022, Bitcoin has lost around 59 percent of its value, while Ethereum-backed ether has lost 73 percent.
It comes after Babel Finance, a Hong Kong-based crypto-lender, froze withdrawals yesterday due to a widespread market downturn, citing ‘unusual liquidity’ in a statement.
The digital currency market has taken a beating this week as bitcoin lending provider Celsius suspended withdrawals and account transfers, citing “extreme” circumstances.
Investors are fleeing riskier assets, prompting companies like Coinbase Global Inc, Gemini, and Blockfi to lay off thousands of staff.
The worldwide crypto market’s worth has dropped to approximately $900 billion, according to CoinMarketCap, after peaking at about $3 trillion in November.
Not everyone has been able to get out in time, as analysts claim a price of $21,000 puts 45% of investors underwater on their holdings – meaning an asset is worth less than it was paid for.
Yet by some measures, retail investors are doubling down and view the selloff as an attractive buying opportunity.
Vanda Research data shows that retail investor net inflows into crypto-related stocks and exchange-traded funds over the last 10 days has leaped to $570 million, a pace not seen since January last year.
Future Perfect Ventures partner Jalak Jobanputra told Yahoo Finance Live: ‘We are in the throes of a crypro winter.
‘If we see more contagion within the crypto markets and more funds start to fail [things] could change, but I still think of [bitcoin] as the most blue-chip crypto that’s not as exposed to questionable risk management practices.’