Bitcoin slips below $ 30,000 as fears grow over surging COVID-19 cases – and is now trading 55% below its all-time high

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Bitcoin fell below $ 30,000 on Tuesday for the first time in about a month, as growing fears of the fast-spreading Delta variant hit global stocks hard on Monday.

The cryptocurrency was last trading at $ 29,770 at 3:25 a.m. ET, down about 55% from its all-time high of $ 64,870 on April 14.

Ether fell 7% to $ 1,761, Cardano fell 9% to $ 1.07, XRP fell 9% to 53 cents, and Dogecoin fell 7% to 16 cents.

The massive sell-off caused the value of the entire cryptocurrency market to drop by $ 98 billion, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

“Bitcoin has not been immune to market volatility and is another victim of the sell-off in financial markets. Investors have moved away from crypto wallets after stocks fell,” said Susannah Streeter , Senior Investment and Markets Analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

Global markets were in disarray on Monday over the surge in global COVID-19 cases. The Dow Jones Index fell 2.1% on its worst day since October. Investors fear that new epidemics will disrupt global growth and hit economies that are steadily recovering.

“Fears about cutting edge economic data and a resurgence of COVID cases have the market on edge,” said Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at LPL Financial, adding that investors are more than due to some turmoil.

A JPMorgan strategist told Insider last month that institutional investors would again be drawn into buying bitcoin if they fell below $ 30,000. He didn’t think the range between $ 50,000 and $ 60,000 was attractive to them. But Edward Moya, senior analyst at OANDA, said a break below the $ 30,000 level could result in a “huge amount of dynamic sales.”

Some bitcoin bulls have long argued that the asset was a hedge against inflation due to its fixed supply, but its 3% gain so far this year is now well below the S&P’s 13% advance. 500.

In the wake of China’s ban on the use of digital assets as currencies, the spread of the Delta variant in the United States and around the world is causing a large decline in risk assets, including bitcoin.

“These developments have resulted in headwinds on prices and increased volatility,” said Paul Cappelli, portfolio manager at Galaxy Digital. “As miners and trading desks close, substantial sales of assets can ensue as business models pivot.”

He noted an expert estimate that it could take around a year for affected miners and trading desks to relocate their businesses and restore operations.

“As global leadership continues to learn about bitcoin and regulatory clarity increases, we are confident that near-term volatility will give way to a stronger asset class,” added Cappelli.

Read more: World’s Largest Crypto Asset Manager Launches Decentralized Financial Index Fund. Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein told us why the company is betting on DeFi amid growing demand from institutional investors.

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