Economy

Bitcoin and ethereum suffered massive drops, but many cryptocurrencies are faring even worse

Updated : January 17, 2018 08:08 AM IST

Most major digital currencies sold off sharply on Tuesday, but the declines in bitcoin, ethereum and litecoin prices weren't as bad as much of the rest of the market.

All of the top 20 digital currencies — by market value — suffered double digit losses over the last 24 hours, according to data from industry website CoinMarketCap.

For example, ripple was down 26 percent, bitcoin cash was down 24 percent, iota was down 27 percent and monero was down 22 percent as of 8:51 a.m. HK/SIN.

In fact, at their low point on the day, many cryptocurrencies with large market caps saw their prices essentially halved.

On the other hand, bitcoin was down 17 percent at that time, ethereumwas down 19 percent and litecoin was down 19 percent, according to the same site.

The declines followed speculation in the market about what regulators in Asia may be planning for digital tokens.

On Monday, a report from Bloomberg, citing unnamed sources, said Beijing plans to block domestic access to Chinese and offshore cryptocurrency platforms that allow centralized trading.

Last week, South Korean Justice Minister Park Sang-ki said his ministry was preparing a bill that, if passed, could ban trading via cryptocurrency exchanges. His comments roiled the market and subsequently the justice ministry and other sections of South Korea's government have softened their stance.

Bitcoin was down 14.35 percent over the last day — at $11,260 — at 8:47 a.m. HK/SIN on Coinbase.

Coinbase is the leading U.S. marketplace for trading bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin and bitcoin cash.

Late Tuesday afternoon, bitcoin briefly dropped below $10,000 on Coinbase, after first topping the psychologically key level in late November. In December, the cryptocurrency managed to top $19,800. But still, bitcoin remains more than 1100 percent higher over the last 12 months, according to Coinbase.

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