Bitcoin Skids to Six-Month Low as Ukraine Fears Shake Markets

[ad_1]

Bitcoin (virtual currency) coins are seen in an illustrative photo taken at the Maison du Bitcoin in Paris July 11, 2014. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

Join now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Register

LONDON/NEW YORK, Jan 24 (Reuters) – Bitcoin fell to its lowest level in six months on Monday as fears of a Russian attack on Ukraine saw riskier assets around the world extend their sell-off .

The biggest cryptocurrency last fell 5.4% to $34,310 after falling to $32,951, its lowest price since July 23, taking losses from its all-time high of 69 000 $ reached in November beyond 50%.

NATO said on Monday it was putting its forces on standby and bolstering Eastern Europe with more ships and fighter jets, in what Russia has denounced as an escalation of tensions over the ‘Ukraine. Read more

Join now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Register

Conflict fears sent equities tumbling around the world while strengthening the dollar and oil.

Added to the mix was jitters over the Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting, starting on Tuesday, with the US central bank set to confirm that it will soon start draining the reservoir of liquidity that has supercharged stocks. growth. Read more

“The story is really how aggressive the tightening is,” said Marc Chandler, chief market strategist at Bannockburn Global Forex in New York, noting that a decision by the Fed to reduce the size of its balance sheet will tighten the markets. terms and higher interest rates.

Cryptocurrencies are falling along with other risky assets as “people largely retreat from risk,” he added.

Smaller cryptocurrencies, which tend to move in tandem with bitcoin, also fell. Ether, the second-largest digital coin, was last down 11% at $2,257 after hitting $2,160, its lowest level since July 27.

More than $400 million in crypto assets have been liquidated in the past 24 hours, according to data from Coinglass, with Bitcoin transactions accounting for $141 million of that total.

“Bitcoin will face headwinds until macroeconomic conditions change,” said Mark Elenowitz, president of Horizon, a company that serves stock exchanges.

“Generally speaking, when rates are raised, we could see more selling off of seemingly risky assets like bitcoin.”

U.S.-listed cryptocurrency miners Riot Blockchain (RIOT.O), Marathon Digital (MARA.O) and Bit Digital (BTBT.O) fell 9% to 17% on Monday, while the exchange of crypto Coinbase Global (COIN.O) fell 13.3%.

Join now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com

Register

bitcoin/gold

Additional reporting by Medha Singh in Bengaluru Editing by Rachel Armstrong, Mark Potter and Paul Simao

Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[ad_2]