Bitcoin news livemint

Cryptocurrencies plunged on Monday, with bitcoin dropping as much as 21% the worst two-day tumble in the digital currency since March stoked concern that the polarizing cryptocurrency boom may run out of steam.

Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, slid as much as 21% over Sunday and Monday to as low as $32,389. That’s the biggest two-day slide since global markets were first roiled by the pandemic last year and follows a record high of almost $42,000 on Jan. 8.

The falls are much larger than the 1% drop that sent gold prices to a one-month low, but reflect a wider dollar bounce against major fiat currencies as the prospect of higher U.S. interest rates tempers popular bets against the dollar.

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Losses pared a little by lunchtime in Asia to put bitcoin at $35,192 - about 16% below a record peak of $42,000 which the world's most popular cryptocurrency hit last week.

If sustained, the drop would be the third straight session of losses since that high, which represented an almost 1,000% gain from a one-year low of $3,850 that bitcoin hit last March.

Interest in bitcoin has been soaring as institutional investors began buying heavily, viewing it as both an inflation hedge and as exposed to gains if it became more widely adopted as a digital currency.

J.P.Morgan strategists wrote on Jan. 5 that bitcoin has emerged as a rival to gold and could trade as high as $146,000 if it becomes established as a safe-haven asset.