It’s not a good day if you’re a crypto investor.
The majority of the cryptocurrency market tumbled on Monday. At the time this article was published, Bitcoin’s price had fallen to around $30,500 USD. That’s less than half of its all-time high of $68,990 from November 2021.
According to blockchain analytics firm Glassnode, around 40 percent of Bitcoin holders are currently experiencing losses. Ouch.
Bitcoin isn’t the only cryptocurrency taking a hit. The entire market is plunging with popular cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum dipping more than 10 percent over the past 24 hours. Even the stablecoin Terra (UST) fell below the $1 USD it’s pegged to.
Elon Musk’s favorite cryptocurrency, Dogecoin, also fell to under $0.11. That’s a 52-week low for the memecoin.
At least one buyer “bought the dip,” though. El Salvador’s president Nayib Bukele announced on Twitter that the country purchased 500 Bitcoin while the market was tanking. Bukele has been a big supporter of Bitcoin. The country made history in October of last year when it became the first country to accept Bitcoin as legal tender.
However, El Salvador had prior investments in the crypto, bringing its total holdings to 2,301 Bitcoin. Due to the crash, Bukele is down big in his country’s investment in crypto. As of publishing, El Salvador was down $35 million on its Bitcoin investment.
What’s contributing to the Bitcoin crash? Experts have chalked up the downturn to inflation woes. The stock market tanked on Monday as well, showing broader effects in the financial world. However, due to overall concerns in the stability of the highly volatile crypto market, it remains to be seen what price point Bitcoin will find support at.
UPDATE: May. 9, 2022, 6:44 p.m. EDT An earlier version of this piece incorrectly referred to the stablecoin that lost its peg as the controversial Tether. The stablecoin that dropped below $1 USD today is Terra. The piece has been updated. At the time of this update, Terra is falling even further in value, dipping to $0.84 at one point.
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