Bitcoin price tumbles by 17%

Bitcoin prices dropped sharply overnight Saturday, plunging to a low near $43,000 as a combination of profit-taking and macro-economic concerns triggered nearly a billion dollars worth of selling across cryptocurrencies. The world’s most prominent cryptocurrency pared losses subsequently, last changing hands at around $49,663, according to Coin Metrics. From a 24-hour period spanning early Friday morning to early Saturday morning, bitcoin’s price went from about $57,000 to $47,000, losing $10,000, or more than 17%.

The price of ether, the second-largest token, also dived to a low near $3,500 on Saturday. It recovered a little by Saturday night, trading at $4,233. Ether, the world’s second-largest digital coin by market value, lost more than 16% from Friday morning around 8 am ET through to Saturday 8 am ET. The overall crypto sector has shed around a fifth of its value, sliding to $2.2 trillion, according to tracker CoinGecko.

Crypto began falling Friday as stocks pulled back and investors fled to the safety of Treasuries, pushing the 10-year yield lower. Risky tech stocks were among the biggest losers on Wall Street on Friday, with Tesla shedding 6%. The ARK Innovation fund lost 5% on Friday and 12% on the week. As the sentiment soured in the tech space, those investors may have also started unloading their crypto.

But there was no clear reason for the cryptocurrency drop, especially overnight Saturday when the losses accelerated. Both cryptocurrencies have experienced turbulent trade since the omicron Covid variant emerged, tracking global stock markets which have been also volatile. On Nov. 26, bitcoin hit a seven-week low close to $54,000, officially entering bear market territory.

Bitcoin is now down about 30% from an all-time high close to $69,000, which it hit in early November. Bear markets are typically defined as a decline of 20% or more from recent highs. The World Health Organization on Friday said the Covid omicron variant has been detected in 38 countries, up from 23 two days ago, with early data suggesting the strain is more contagious than delta.