Bitcoin has dropped below $30,000, wiping out about $90 billion from the crypto market.
Bitcoin has dropped below $30,000 for the first time since June 22, bringing other digital currencies down with it. As of 6:29 a.m. ET on Tuesday, the entire cryptocurrency market had lost nearly $89 billion in just 24 hours, based to statistics from CoinMarketCap.
Bitcoin was down more than 5%, ether was down more than 6%, and XRP was down over 9%, according to CoinDesk data. For the year, Bitcoin is up 1.87 percent. Both Ether and XRP are up around 135 percent this year.
After a massive sell-off in global financial markets, bitcoin took a dive. The Dow Jones Industrial Average experienced its lowest day since October on Monday.
“Global markets have seen a broad sell-off, and risk assets have fallen across the board,” said Annabelle Huang, a partner at Amber Group, a bitcoin financial services business.
There are "concerns about the quality and strength of the economic recovery," according to Huang, and "broader risk assets, including high yields, have turned weaker." “This, combined with recent BTC (bitcoin) weakness, has pushed the crypto market farther lower.”
Bitcoin's price has dropped by more than half after reaching an all-time high of about $65,000 in mid-April.
Regulatory scrutiny
The bitcoin price has been pushed down by a renewed crackdown in China on cryptocurrency trading and mining.
In China, major bitcoin mining regions have been compelled to cease down operations. Bitcoin mining is a high-energy process that allows for bitcoin transactions and the creation of new currency.
China's central bank has also spoken to finance and fintech firms, reminding them not to provide customers with cryptocurrency-related services.
In 2017, China outlawed local cryptocurrency exchanges, forcing them to relocate overseas. Chinese traders continued to buy and sell digital currency despite this. However, Chinese regulators have taken harsh measures this year to tighten trade and mining prohibitions even more.
“As BTC (bitcoin) continues to be pushed down by China's final crypto prohibition and worsening macroeconomic conditions from a boom in covid variations, all signals are red,” said Jehan Chu, founder of cryptocurrency-focused venture capital and trading business Kenetic Capital.
Regulators from all over the world are taking a closer look at the crypto space.
Last month, U.K. officials blocked Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, from doing any regulated business in the nation. Binance has also been warned by regulators in Japan, Canada, and Thailand.
Vijay Ayyar, head of business development at cryptocurrency exchange Luno, stated, "In general, we're seeing increasing regulatory focus on crypto and bitcoin."
Is there more selling ahead?
The drop in Bitcoin's price below $30,000 might be significant, Ayyar claims that who predicted that the sell-off would continue to the $22,000 to $24,000 level.
After that, bitcoin may trade in a range.
“I think bitcoin will stay between $20K and $40K for a while before any bullishness returns,” Ayyar added.
Chu of Kinetic Capital anticipates potential selling coming as well.
“The crypto market has halted in Q1 and is facing a further drop, possibly below $25K levels,” Chu added.
