Crypto Markets Witness Bloodbath

By Swati Kishore

Following the sell-off in the global markets, cryptocurrencies are now too facing the heat. The Asian markets (where the stock markets are starting to steady after a volatile week) are witnessing a bloodbath in the cryptocurrency sphere. The global stock markets are also starting to be less volatile ahead of the release of the US jobs data on Friday, November 7, 2018.

Just a short while back, Bitcoin plunged below the USD 3,400 level on the cryptocurrency exchange Binance, which is one of the world’s top three largest exchanges by the volume of cryptocurrency traded. Over the last 24 hours, the markets have fallen by more than 10%. Subsequently, Bitcoin was trading at a 15 month low.

Not just Bitcoin, all the major altcoins have also been plunging to new levels. While Bitcoin Cash has slumped by 20%; altcoins like Ripple, Ethereum and Litecoin, have all tasted lows to as much as 10%.

Pointing out the reason for the sudden slump in the crypto markets can become difficult because everything with crypto exchanges is not very transparent. Catalysts for this market slump can be some of the recent news. A recent news states that the US Securities and Exchange Commission has extended the deadline for the acceptance of a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund or Bitcoin ETF until February 27, 2019.

Global stock markets have witnessed a lot of volatility this week owing to the news of the growing concerns about worldwide growth rate as well as the US-China trade fears. After opening on Thursday, the S&P 500 plunged and almost wiped out all of the gains made in the year 2018. The US stock markets, however, made a turnaround. The result was the biggest intraday swing in the markets since the year 2010. It led to the Asian stock markets trading steadily. The markets are now waiting for the important US jobs data on Friday.

Bitcoin has fallen by almost 90% from the all-time high that the world’s first cryptocurrency had reached around the same time this year.