US’ new regulations cause uncertainty, Chinese crackdown creates fear among investors
Bitcoin plummeted by almost 20% in just eight days, as the latest selloff wiped out half a trillion dollars from the crypto market as of Thursday.
The price of Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, fell to $56,592 at 12 p.m. EDT (1700GMT), losing 18% of its value since hitting an all-time high of $69,000 on Nov. 10.
Bitcoin’s market value decreased by more than $210 billion during that period to $1.08 trillion, according to data by digital asset price-tracking website CoinMarketCap.
Ethereum, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency and biggest altcoin, also saw its price decline by 18.6% to $3,960 from $4,868 during the same period. Its market capitalization fell almost $100 billion to $474 billion.
The cryptocurrency market’s total value stood at just over $2.46 trillion at the time — wiping out more than $500 billion in just eight days.
Though some analysts believe that the latest decline is a correction in the crypto market, given its highly volatile nature, others argue that it could be the beginning of a bear market due to fear and uncertainty among investors.
US President Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill, which he signed into law on Monday, includes some new regulations on crypto assets as part of the administration’s bid to create new revenues for investment.
The most striking aspect of the legislation requires cryptocurrency exchanges to notify the Internal Revenue Service directly about their users’ transactions, which will cause tax reporting difficulties for many crypto investors.
The Chinese government, in addition, continues its intense pressure on the crypto industry.Beijing on Tuesday called crypto mining an “extremely harmful” practice, which threatens its efforts to reduce carbon emissions, adding that it would launch a “full-scale” crackdown on mining activities.
China’s central bank announced on Sept. 24 that it would tighten regulations on cryptocurrency activities, including mining, prohibiting trade, token issuance, and banning overseas exchanges’ services to Chinese residents.