Crypto Today: Bitcoin drops on central bankers’ caution, S. Korea tax news
Bitcoin, (BTC/USD) the world’s most dominant cryptocurrency, is down almost 2% near 16,300 levels on the Luxembourg-based Bitstamp exchange, having hit fresh record highs at $ 17,428 on Tuesday.
Bitcoin rallied in a bid to test the $ 20000 mark comes after surging transaction fees, margins and processing times on the newly launched CBOE bitcoin futures boosted the demand for the spot across all the major exchanges.
However, the bulls faced exhaustion in the Asian trades this Wednesday, after headlines hit the wires that the South Korean government is considering taxing capital gains from cryptocurrency trading.
Moreover, the latest comments from the RBA Governor Phillip Lowe, labeling Bitcoin a ‘speculative mania’ and attractive to those who want to make transactions in the black or illegal economy. His comments echoed the weekend’s remarks from the RBNZ acting-Governor Spencer, after he said, "It (Bitcoin) looks remarkably like a bubble forming to me."
Meanwhile, its rivals Ethereum (ETH/USD) and Litecoin (LTC/USD) rallied 30% and 70% respectively a day. At the time of writing, ETH/USD drops -5.50% to trade at $ 598 levels, while Litecoin dives nearly 8% to $ 325.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin sits at the market capitalization of $ 279.50 billion, down from about $ 285 bn seen last Friday.The total market capitalization of the cryptocurrencies sits at $ 477 billion.
Author
Dhwani Mehta
FXStreet
Residing in Mumbai (India), Dhwani is a Senior Analyst and Manager of the Asian session at FXStreet. She has over 10 years of experience in analyzing and covering the global financial markets, with specialization in Forex and commodities markets.
