According to Bloomberg, the price of Bitcoin fell below $ 20,000 for the first time since December 2020 and lost 9.5% of its value in the last 24 hours.
Atrium, the second-largest digital currency, also fell 9.78 percent to about $ 992.
“Deterioration is likely to happen in the world,” Oanda analyst Jeffrey Haley told AFP as stock markets around the world collapsed and investors flocked to the dollar as a safe haven. Digital currency. “
The US stock market fell sharply on Thursday as the Nasdaq fell 4.1 percent and Standard & Poor’s fell 3.25 percent before a slight recovery on Friday.
While the digital currency market was worth more than $ 3 trillion at its peak seven months ago, it is approaching $ 1 trillion, according to Coingecko, which tracks more than 13,000 different digital currencies.
By 2021, this still-emerging sector has attracted a growing number of traditional financial investors whose appetite for risk has been dampened by the very weak policies of central banks around the world.
But rising dollar interest rates, decided by the US Federal Reserve to curb hyperinflation, are putting pressure on markets.
In addition, bitcoin declines accelerated “after Celsius’ suspended withdrawals,” according to UBS analyst Mark Hefley.
The $ 12 billion company, in particular, offers its users to use their “historic” digital currencies such as Bitcoin and Atrium to invest in new digital currencies.
Last October, Celsius raised $ 400 million from the Quebec Depository, which expressed satisfaction with its partnership with “the world’s leading digital currency lender.”
One week ago, the platform announced that “due to severe market conditions, we are suspending all withdrawals and transfers between accounts.”
Source: Lebanon Debate
