Market capitalization of crypto assets falls

The total market capitalisation of all crypto assets fell below $1 trillion for the first time since breaching that level for the first time last year.

The crypto market cap stood at $970 billion at 2.50 pm on June 13, according to market tracker coinmarketcap.com. By 5.15 pm, it had lost another $10 billion.

Bitcoin was around $24,426, almost 12% down for the day, while ether (Ethereum’s token) was below $1,240, more than 16% down at 2.50 pm. By 5.15 pm, bitcoin was below $24,000, almost 14% down, while ether was below $1,200.

The crypto market hit new peaks in 2021 amid a historic bull run. It breached $3 trillion in market cap last November after surpassing $1 trillion in February.

But the prices of bitcoin and other crypto assets are down 20-40% in just the past seven days.

The sustained decline in crypto this year comes on the back of heightened investor fear amid record inflation in the US and the expectation of more interest rate hikes by the Fed to combat this.

Experts said a further decline is expected before upward momentum returns.

(newsletter@ettech.com)