Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies have crashed further overnight, dropping to levels not seen since the crypto market began surging in late 2020 and wiping away almost $1 trillion worth of value in a month as a serious “ripple” warning comes into effect.
The bitcoin price has dropped to around $26,000 per bitcoin, down 13% in the last 24 hours, and dragging down the wider crypto market with other top ten coins Ethereum, BNB BNB -18.8%, XRP XRP -25.4%, Solana, Cardano, and avalanche recording even steeper loses. Ethereum has crashed 22% since this time yesterday, with BNB, XRP, Solana, Cardano, and avalanche all losing between 25% and 33%.
The entire cryptocurrency market capitalization has fallen approximately 20% as it currently stands at $1.16 trillion as of the time of this writing, with strong indications that the market will soon lose its trillion-dollar status.
The sell-off comes after the $18 billion algorithmic stablecoin terraUSD (UST) lost its peg to the U.S. dollar, wiping out the price of its support coin luna which has now lost almost 99% of its value—and risks dragging the bitcoin and crypto market even lower.
US inflation dipped marginally to 8.3% in April, but stayed close to March’s 40-year high of 8.5%, underscoring the urgency of the Federal Reserve’s push to stamp out inflation. This may mean further pressure in the crypto market.