Bitcoin price CRASH: Nearly $13billion WIPED OFF cryptocurrencies – What is causing CRASH?

Cryptocurrencies (BTC), ethereum (ETH) and Ripple’s XRP all plunged on the crypto markets today (Thursday, October 11).

Bitcoin’s price plunged by around £303 ($400) in a matter of 30 minutes earlier this morning, according to CoinDesk.

BTC traded for £4,932.14 ($6,507) at 1.53am BST (12.53am UTC) before plummeting down to £4,645.05 ($6,128.24) by 2.26am BST (1.26am UTC).

Bitcoin is now trading at £4,723.21 ($6,231.35) at 9.41am BST (8.41am UTC) on CoinDesk, marking a 4.88 percent drop in price.

Bigger losses were sustained by the crypto’s market capitalisation – the digital token’s overall market value.

According to crypto trackers at CoinMarketCap, all of the top 10 cryptocurrencies took a hit during the past 24 hours.

Bitcoin’s market cap crashed alongside the token’s price from a market cap of £85billion ($113billion) at 2.09am BST (1.09am UTC) to £81billion ($108billion) just six hours later.

As a result of the sudden plunge in value, the entire crypto market capitalisation is down from £163billion ($216billion) at 1.37am BST (12.37am UTC) to £153billion ($203billion) by 3.17am BST (2.17am UTC).

At 9.52am BST (8.52am UTC) is down 10.78 percent, XRP is down 11.47 percent, bitcoin cash is down 11.51 percent and EOS is down 8.54 percent.

Bitcoin price: Cryptocurrency price chart

Bitcoin price: The cryptocurrency plunged on the markets today along a wider market sell off (Image: GETTY/COINDESK)

Bitcoin price: Cryptocurrency price chart

Bitcoin price: The token is at tits lowest price since September 17 (Image: COINMARKETCAP)

What caused bitcoin’s price to crash?

Bitcoin is now trading at its lowest price since September 17, according to CoinDesk.

The market drop comes amid .

After an incredible period of gains in 2017 which saw bitcoin reach highs of almost £15,160 ($20,000) in December last year, the token crashed early in 2018.

The token’s volatility continued over the more recent months, peaking at £6,365.95 ($8,398.63) on July 24 before dropping below £4,699.44 ($6,200) on August 10.

In the wake of today’s massive sell-off, analysts have now warned the days of “playing safe” with cryptocurrency are over.

Matthew Newton, a market analyst at investment platform eToro, said: “This sell off is just a return to the bear market of a few months ago.

“Falls like this are a sign that the markets are working, and investors are pulling their money out of over-valued projects.

“Of course, movement in the alt-coin market often spills over to other cryptoasset markets, which is what we see here, particularly given that ethereum has been the driving force behind the market for the last few months.

Bitcoin price: Cryptocurrency price chart

Bitcoin price: The entire crypto market lost around $13billion in value today (Image: COINMARKETCAP)

“Much of the ‘good news’ is currently happening behind the scenes as entrepreneurs develop the infrastructure that the market will rely on in the future.”


Cryptocurrencies represent the mother of all bubbles

Nouriel Roubini, analyst

Ryan Rabaglia, head of crypto rating at OSL, said in his opinion bitcoin’s volatility could see future sell-offs further test its 2018 low of £4,396.26 ($5,800).

He said: “The global sell-off in equities has indeed spilled over to the crypto space.

“The days of crypto being the safe-haven play and having a high degree of detachment from the rest of the world are seemingly diminishing.”

Bitcoin price: Cryptocurrency price charts

Bitcoin price: The top 10 crypto tokens are trading at a loss today (Image: COINMARKETCAP)

Turkish analyst Nouriel Roubini, known in the crypto circles as “Dr Doom”, will testify before the US Senate today about the dangers of cryptocurrency.

In a statement published before the hearing, he labelled bitcoin and fellow cryptocurrencies the “mother of all bubbles”.

Mr Roubini said: “It is clear by now that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies represent the mother of all bubbles, which explains why literally every human being I met between Thanksgiving and Christmas of 2017 asked me first if they should buy them.”

The analyst warned the too many people without any “financial literacy” have jumped the bitcoin bandwagon, including scammers and criminals, which has caused the currency to “bust and crash in a matter of months”.

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