Bitcoin traded below $19,000 on Wednesday morning, hitting its lowest level since June following a drop in stock markets globally and the continued strength of the U.S. dollar. The value of the entire cryptocurrency market also fell below $1 trillion as digital coins across the board saw a sell-off. Bitcoin was last trading slightly lower at around $18,823.94, according to Coin Metrics. Ether, which has far outpaced bitcoin’s gains in recent months, was down more than 2% at $1,535.49. Central banks around the world are battling rampant inflation with tightening monetary policy. The U.S. Federal Reserve has undertaken a series of interest rate hikes totaling 2.25 percentage points. Markets are expecting further interest rate rises. Policy tightening by the Fed has strengthened the U.S. dollar which has weighed on risk assets. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield has also surged. Bitcoin has traded in correlation to stocks and so if they fall, in general, so does the cryptocurrency. “The macro environment also continues to prove difficult with the dollar continuing to put in highs. This impacts all risk assets as we can see,” Vijay Ayyar, vice president of corporate development and international at crypto exchange Luno, told CNBC.
Full story : Bitcoin hits lowest level since June as cryptocurrency market drops below $1 trillion again.
