Crypto market navigating sea of red; Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple down over 10% during weekend
- CFTC investigation triggered the sell-off.
- Another heist fo South Korean exchange intensified the decline.
- All major coins are down at least 10%, EOS is the worst performer.
Cryptocurrency market lost over $50B of its value during the weekend, as all major coins dived into a sea of red amid heightened concerns about the regulatory clamp down. Government investigators requested comprehensive trading data form several cryptocurrency exchanges to decide whether there were market-distorting price manipulations or not. Commodity Futures Trading Commission is frustrated by the dispute between CME - a regulated commodity exchange offering Bitcoin futures - and the cryptocurrency trading platforms (Bitstamp, Coinbase, itBit, and Kraken) that provide their pricing data for CME's Bitcoin futures.
News that the South Korean crypto exchange Conrail was hacked added fuel to the flames and pushed digital assets even lower on Sunday. Coinrail confirmed that the hacker moved over 70% of its digital assets to a cold wallet. The company is trying to recover the lost assets.
Bitcoin lost over 10% during weekend before stabilizing under $6,800 early on Monday. The digital coin No.1 went below $7,000 handle for the first time since April 4, resuming the downside after a short-lived correction. Bitcoin's market cap dropped to $116B, while trading volumes spiked to over $5.6B.
Ethereum, Ripple and Bitcoin Cash fell more than 11%, while EOS was the worst performer from top-10, down over 20%. ETH/USD is trading at $529, off Sunday's low at $502; XRP/USD touched $0.5550 before recovering to $0.5839. BCH/USD is trading at $965, off $895 low. EOS/USD stopped short of $10.00.
BTC/USD, the daily chart
Author
Tanya Abrosimova
Independent Analyst
