Major cryptocurrencies fell early Tuesday, while investors escaped the rally that drove digital assets to staggering prices.
The price of bitcoin fell about 14% to $ 46,605.79, after falling over $ 44,964.49 overnight, CoinDesk data show, marking its biggest daily decline in a month.
Dogecoin, the meme-inspired cryptocurrency that has become a favorite of the online cult, has recently dropped by more than 20% to about 4.4 cents. And Ether, second only to Bitcoin in terms of market value, fell nearly 19% to $ 1,455.56.
The sale fell the total value of the cryptocurrency market down by about 16% to nearly $ 1.4 trillion, just days after it hit all-time highs, according to Coinmarketcap.com.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk – one of the most prominent supporters of crypto – appeared to start the weekend sinking with a tweet stating that bitcoin and Ether prices “seem high”, even though its electric car manufacturer has invested $ 1.5 billion in the former currency. .
Markets were also frightened by skeptical comments made Monday by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who called bitcoin “extremely inefficient” and “extremely speculative.”
“People should beware that it can be extremely volatile and I’m worried about the potential losses that investors could suffer,” Yellen told a conference.
Tuesday’s tumble highlighted the volatility of cryptocurrencies just one week after Bitcoin first rose to over $ 50,000.
Cryptographic prices have risen in recent months as a growing number of institutional investors and major companies, such as Tesla and Mastercard, have begun to treat digital currencies as more mass investment assets.
But skeptics have argued that these types of wild price fluctuations could be an obstacle to wider adoption of cryptocurrencies.
“The types of rallies we have seen are not sustainable and only invite such retreats,” said Craig Erlam, a senior market analyst at OANDA.
With Post Wires