Bitcoin tumbled $20,000 for the first time since late 2020 in a fresh sign that the selloff in cryptocurrencies is deepening. The price of the most popular cryptocurrency had fell below more than 13%– to a low of $17,593– at one point on Saturday. This the weakest level of the most popular cryptocurrency since December 2020 – before pulling back up to $18,556, still down 9.22%.
Now, Bitcoin has lost more than 70% of its value since reaching its peak. In 2021, Bitcoin peaked at more than $68,000.
Ethereum, another highly followed cryptocurrency that has been sliding in recent weeks, witnessed a similar downfall on Saturday. Ethereum-backed ether is down 74%. Ether breached $1,000 and dropped almost 19% to $891, the lowest since January 2021. The two bellwethers of the crypto market are both down more than 70% from all-time highs set in early November.
The overall market value of cryptocurrency assets has tumbled from $3 trillion to less than $1 trillion, as per coinmarketcap.com, which tracks crypto prices. As of Sunday morning the company’s data showed crypto’s global market value stood at about $840 billion.