A screenshot from CoinMarketCap.com showing the 24 price movement of the entire cryptocurrency market.
- Cryptocurrency markets lose $7 billion in around half an hour.
- Litecoin, one of the worst hit, is down 9% at the time of writing.
- Not clear what is causing the slump but it coincides with US stock market futures falling.
LONDON - Cryptocurrencies are falling just before lunchtime on Wednesday.
Major digital currencies began the day in London on the back-foot, with cryptos down between 1% and 3%. The slump has worsened as the morning has progressed.
Here's how the scoreboard looks at 11.10 a.m. GMT (6.10 a.m.) ET:
- Bitcoin is down 4.5% against the dollar to $7,083.09
- Ethereum is down 6.8% to $387.75
- Ripple is down 8% to $0.50
- Bitcoin Cash is down 6.2% to $665.24
- Litecoin is down 9.4% to $121.74
The sell-off appears to have gathered pace over the last month, with the entire cryptocurrency market declining by almost $7 billion in around half an hour.
It's unclear what has caused the latest sell-off although the slump coincides with US stock market futures diving on news of Chinese tariffs. Jeffrey Gundlach of DoubleLine Capital said on Tuesday that bitcoin is proving to be a new stock market indicator.
After booming at the end of 2017, cryptocurrencies have had a torrid start to the year. Bitcoin had its second-worst quarter on record at the start of 2018, declining by over 50% against the dollar.
